Haunted
by MagenKyotenChiten
Summary: [GaaSaku]16 year old Sakura Haruno looks like an ordinary intelligant nerdy high school girl, but she has gone through more than anyone can imagine....Being abused and tortured both, physically and mentally everyday. Can someone save her from this hell?
1. Chapter 1

**Haunted - A Gaara & Sakura Story **

**By MagenKyotenChiten**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters! But I WISH I did! **

Summary: GaaSaku 16-year-old Sakura Haruno looks like an ordinary intelligent nerdy high school girl, but she has gone through more than anyone can imagine... Being Abused and Tortured both, physically and mentally. Can someone save her from this hell?

**a/n: Hello! This is my first fan fiction, which I wrote because I was inspired by the great Naruto fanfics written by Leafygirl, Siy, MitsukiShiroi, and many others. I hope you like it! **

**This story has no Ninjas, and takes place in the United States, with most of the Naruto Characters in High School. **

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Prologue 

Most High-Schoolers hate school, When the bell rings, Screams of Joy can be heard, for finally they are let out of the six-hour hell. But not for 18-year-old Haruno Sakura, Sakura Loved School, it was better than the place she called "home." For six hours she was away from

"him"…

Haruno Sakura got straight As, Passed her tests with Perfect scores, on her way to get a scholarship to an Ivy League school, Teachers loved her, they thought she was a wonderful girl, but they didn't understand her, they didn't know the hell she had to go through at home.

Her Social Life wasn't that good, though.

The kids hated her, envied her perfect grades and so she was picked on and beated up quite a lot. She was known as the girl who sucked up to the teachers, a.k.a teacher's pet. Every time she walked through the hall, people pointed and whispers could be heard about her...

But they didn't know what she had to go through...

Sakura didn't have any friends and kept a distance from people, she was afraid if "He" learned that she had friends, "He" would them hurt, she didn't want anyone else getting hurt. She sat alone at lunch, didn't show up at social events, and didn't talk to anyone much.

She just went by High School; she didn't care if she wasn't popular. It was only a couple years until and then she would finally be away from "him"...

But most unusual thing about her is that she had pink hair, even though it was natural, kids still bugged her about, and was one of the main reasons of why she got picked on a lot.

She also always wore long-sleeved shirts and long pants, even when it was burning hot. That didn't make her any more popular, and the kids thought she was crazy, and thought she wore it to hide an ugly birthmark, or a disfigured limb, or just to hide the fact that she was ugly. But they didn't know she did it to hide the marks, bruises, and wounds, "He" gave her.

Sakura Haruno was not actually an ugly girl, but she hid her beauty by wearing large glasses to hide her eyes and ugly baggy clothes to hide her figure.

Living with "Him" made her feel soiled, impure, dirty, and ugly, and she did feel not beautiful at all.

"he" tortured her physically and mentally everyday. She was scarred for life. She secretly took sleeping pills and anti-depressants, but it didn't help at all. She was haunted by "him", she was haunted by him in her dreams, her mind, everywhere, she couldn't escape him, nowhere was safe.

But soon the truth will unravel and everyone will know...

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Chapter 1

It was another bright and sunny day, and school bell had just ringed, signaling another school day has ended. Haruno Sakura was trembling, with eyes wide with fear. It was time to go home back to "him". Hell was beginning for her, after slamming her locker door shut; she slowly walked out the high school in the midst of high schoolers rushing to get out.

Outside, Sakura took a left and started walking to the place she called home. With step, her feet felt like lead, getting heavier and heavier. Unlike most kids who could drive home, she walked. She couldn't take the bus, because she lived quite far from the high school and the city bus did not stop anywhere nearby she lived, for where she lived was the unsafe part of town.

The houses were getting more and more shabbier, as she walked by. Some time later, she walked into a an alley and was in the neighborhood where she lived, walked straight up to where her house was, and stopped.

Sakura looked at the house with a glance of pure hatred. Oh, how she hated that house, so many unpleasant events had happened there.

Sakura then braced herself and made sure her expression held no fear, she didn't wait to give him the satisfaction of seeing her frightened. After, telling herself one more time "I can do this." she pushed open the broken gate that was at the entrance of the house.

Walking up the entrance, she stopped at the door and pushed the unlocked door. The door creaked open and she stepped inside. The strong smell of sex and alcohol filled the whole house. Taken aback from the smell, Sakura wrinkles her nose up in disgust, and then hesitantly whispered "Itachi?"...

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To be continued...

a/n: So, was it good? Or was it bad? I'm sorry to tell you Itachi fans (I'm a big one, myself!) that Itachi is the bad guy, or the villain in this story. I didn't want to do it, but it seemed that Itachi was the best one for the job. Gaara isn't in the story yet, but have no fear he'll appear soon. Also, please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n: I'm so glad people reviewed! Thank You SO Much! I'm sorry that chapter 1 was so short, but I promise you chapter 2 will be WAY longer. Also, I need a BETA reader, so if anyone's interested, send me an e-mail. (My e-mail is in my profile.) Thank you SO very much to people for reviewing! I'm so glad that you all liked it.**

**Oh yeah, Itachi is NOT her father or brother in this story. You'll find out later what relation he is to Sakura.**

**Also for you ItaSaku Fans, I am starting another story: My English Teacher is A Sex God and the pairing is ItaSaku. (Don't worry; Itachi isn't the bad guy in that story.) The first chapter should be up by next week.**

**So here's chapter 2, enjoy!**

_Recap:_

_Sakura then braced herself and made sure her expression held no fear, she didn't wait to give him the satisfaction of seeing her frightened. After, telling herself one more time "I can do this." she pushed open the broken gate that was at the entrance of the house._

_Walking up the entrance, she stopped at the door and pushed the unlocked door. The door creaked open and she stepped inside. The strong smell of sex and alcohol filled the whole house. Taken aback from the smell, Sakura wrinkles her nose up in disgust, and then hesitantly whispered "Itachi?"..._

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Haunted

Chapter 2

WARNING: This chapter contains graphic violence, crude language, abuse, and rape.

After, covering her nose and mouth to keep herself from gagging from the strong smell, Sakura then quickly scanned the rooms. Itachi wasn't in any of them, but instead she found empty bottles of alcohol all over the floor.

"Urgh, Itachi must have had his friends over, then gotten drunk-assed, and had one of his whores over to fuck. No wonder it smells so bad." Sakura thought.

Running her hands through her pink hair, she decided he's probably sleeping upstairs, knocked out from drinking that much, and thinks, " He's sleeping for now, and won't wake up until morning. I can escape for my room."

So, she heads for her room.

Actually Sakura didn't really have a room, she slept in the basement. The basement was a small, cold, gloomy, gray room with one small window that didn't let much light in. The Room had little furniture: An old wooden desk and chair, an uncomfortable mental bed that squeaked, a small white dresser to hold the few of Sakura's Clothes. Sakura didn't have many possessions either: a framed picture of her mother, a few pencils, paper, a knife which she hid from Itachi, anti-depressants & sleeping pills which she hid from Itachi, a silver locket which her mother gave her, (which she also hid from Itachi, because he would steal from her, if he ever found out about it) a scratched up piggy bank which held 78 dollars, that she earned while working secretly at gas station, but Itachi found out and he made her quit and took all the money, but Sakura hid 78 dollars him. The 78 dollars was emergency money, which she would only use for an emergency, she also hid the piggy bank from him. Sakura had few other items, but they aren't worth mentioning.

Now, while heading to the pathetic place she calls her "room", praying that Itachi won't wake up, or it'll be hell for her. But Sakura is stopped, and someone's hand is on her shoulder...

" Thought you could escape me, Sakura? Eh?" A husky voice whispers in her earlobe.

She could smell his breath, and it smelled like alcohol.

Crap, it's Itachi and her prayer wasn't answered. Hell will officially begin for Sakura now.

"Itachi." she squeaks. His Grip on her shoulder gets tighter; she is helpless and cannot escape.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." is the only what Sakura can think.

Itachi starts kissing her neck, Sakura tries to squirm out of his grasp. But that only angers Itachi. He pushes her hard into the back of the wall, gets closer to her. Looking at her vulnerable position, he faces her, she sees his sadistic smirk and piercing crimson eyes, and then he slaps her. "Pathetic little bitch. You will NEVER ever escape from me. " He returns to kissing her neck, then suddenly bites her neck. Sakura screams. Which makes him bite down harder. Blood is flowing down freely her slender pale neck.

Itachi laps up every drop of it. To him her, blood and hearing her scream was like being in heaven. "Your blood, it's so damn addicting," he moans. He was losing control. Itachi grabs her face and brutally kisses her. His hands roaming all over her.

Everything is spinning in Sakura's mind. She doesn't want this, but her body is giving in.

He roughly unbuttons her shirt, unclasps her bra, flings it away, cups one her breasts. He takes his thumb, and caresses her nipple, takes it in his mouth, sucks on it.

He then gave the same amount attention to her other breast.

Sakura whimpers and feels a shiver of pleasure up her spine, and he gets aroused.

Her mind is trying to fight her body but her mind is losing. She isn't enjoying this; she feels more pain and only a little pleasure. She tries her hardest not to moan in pleasure.

The battle is over

A sudden mood change happens, and he bites down hard on her nipple. She screams.

Itachi then goes for her pants, unzips it, roughly gets her out of it, and throws it aside. He then puts a finger through her panties, rubs her, and slides it through her folds, he pumps his finger fast and hard, adding another one each time.

The battle is over, her body has won. Moans of pleasure come quickly, and she feels the bulge in his pants getting bigger.

Soon, she comes and her panties are soaking wet with her body fluids, running down her thighs, falling on the floor, and all over his fingers.

Itachi smirks, and licks it off his fingers. He forces Sakura to kneel in front of him. He unzips his pants and pulls his boxers down. He pries open Sakura's mouth, and shoves his length in her mouth. He shoves his length in too hard, and Sakura tries not to gag.

She doesn't want to do this, but she can't fight him. He'll only get angry if she doesn't do it, so she does want he wants. She sucks on his balls and licks up and down his shaft, treating his length, like an ice cream cone.

Itachi grunts and feeling pleasure running up him. He soon comes in her mouth, and is cum everywhere. She drinks up all of it like its some delicious treat, but inside she feel dirty and disgusted thinking it tastes horrible.

She knows what is to happen next. She lifts her legs and wraps them tightly around him. He enters her hard, whispering " Scream my name every time, Sakura." she screams his name, feeling intense pain. He grunts thrusts in her faster, harder, and deeper, with Sakura screaming his name, in while in pain and pleasure, every time. While fucking her, he mummer's hurtful words in her ear to her like "What man would want you now?" " Whore." "Bitch." and "Slut."

He finally comes, slamming hard and deep in her, releasing his seed. Blood is running down her thighs from the hard impact.

But Itachi isn't down with her yet. He flips her over face down, takes out a belt and starts spanking her ass with it. She screams in pain. This was one of Itachi's favorite parts while violating her and abusing her in everyway, he had smug smirk plastered on his face, and you could see a sadistic gleam in his crimson blood-red eyes.

He spanks her with the belt until her ass is red and raw. Then he takes his length and thrusts it in her ass, fucking her ass until he comes and cum is all over her ass.

But even by then is he still isn't done by then. He uses a bondage technique on her limp, tired, bruised body that includes: bondage cuffs, leg spreader, and a spreader bar. He then binds her to the wall, uses a whip-to-whip all the part's of her body (except her face, he knew if he marred her face, people would easily know what he does to her every night.)

He is done whipping her, and takes out his day's frustration by kicking, punching, and beating her like a punching bag, while he screams names, and curses at people at the same time.

After what it seems eternity, Itachi is finished. He unbinds Sakura and releases from her bondage, roughly puts her cold, dirty, cut, bruised, whipped, (You get the idea!) body on cold dirty floor.

He whispers in her ear to go take a shower and clean her pathetic self up. He leaves the room, leaving her broken self all alone. Probably leaving the house, going out for the night.

Right after the moment Itachi leaves; Sakura picks herself up and runs to the shower. As soon as she turns the hot water on and steps into the shower, she starts crying. Tears leaked out her eyes, falling quickly. She sobs loudly. Sakura scrubs herself all over with the hard lumpy soap, trying to get rid of his touch, where he touched her, where he violated her. Her skin even more red and raw. From being scrubbed so hard.

It doesn't work. It all comes back to her. All the horrible things he did to her.

It's starts to rain.

Sakura dries and dresses her self. She sits on the metal bed in the basement. "Her room." She gazes out the window, and watches the rain. Sakura loved the rain, when she was younger she use to go outside in the rain, and dance, letting the raindrops fall on her. " Mother loved the rain," she thought. "Mother..."

She picks up the picture of her mother, looking at it sadly.

But she refuses to let herself think about her mother. It was too painful of a subject.

She tries to go sleep; by she is haunted by the memories of him. Dream, after dream is a horrible nightmare of him. She wakes up. Screaming, pulling her hair, she clutches her head.

It starts raining harder

She screams " SOMEONE FUCKING HELP ME!" She starts crying again, sobbing. She cries "GOD FUCKING SAVE ME! SOMEONE FUCKING SAVE ME!" She prays to be saved.

But no one hears her pleas.

No one heard her screaming in the big city of Michigan.

All is quiet except the rain.

The pain is hurting too much, but she knows how to kill the pain.

She stops looking at the rain, and takes out the knife. She holds it above her wrist, and then cuts her wrist. She watches as she slices the skin and the veins, she doesn't cut too deeply but just enough so her wrist bleeds a fair amount of blood, the crimson liquid slowly seeps out, falling to the floor.

Sakura felt no pain, she only felt numb. It felt so good. It made her forget about him. She felt adrenaline rushing through her body.

The rain turns into a thunderstorm.

Lighting flashes across the sky and thunder roars through the sky.

She smiles for the first time in day.

Her house was a broken home.

She was dying on the inside, broken, praying, bleeding, and screaming. Was she too lost to be saved?

But little did she know, that her life was going to change.

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Meanwhile, a handsome 16-year old boy with red hair green eyes, and a well-built body was waiting at Tokyo International Airport for his flight. He was bored and frustrated, but he didn't show it. On the outside, he was poker faced showing no emotion, but on the inside he was fuming. His flight had delayed a day! A fucking WHOLE day. He had been waiting for his flight for a fucking WHOLE day!

He looks impatiently at his digital watch. 1:00 AM. His flight is supposed to board now.

But relief comes to him, 10 minutes later, when the airport announces, "Japan Airlines Direct Flight 03346 to Michigan is now boarding at Gate E6."

"Finally! After waiting one WHOLE fucking day!" He runs his hands through his red hair, gets up and hurries to Gate E6.

An hour later...

On the plane, He finds himself sandwiched between a fat lady that keeps on ogling at him, and old man who must be about 90-years old who smelled like... well, you know... old people. Whatever, at least he got the seat that's next to the window. He peers out of the window, seeing the big city of Tokyo getting smaller and smaller every moment. Suddenly, a baby starts wailing loudly. A vein pops out of his head. "This is going to be a very long flight..."

Little did he know how that soon his life changed by a certain pink haired girl...

Oh, how fate and destiny makes things very interesting...

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End of Chapter 2!

**a/n: I hope you liked it! Writing the rape was kind of hard for me, because I'm not into writing that stuff. If you guessed that handsome 16-year boy with red hair, green eyes, and a well-built body on a Japan Airlines flight to Michigan is Gaara. Then you guessed right! So, Gaara has a small and short appearance in this chapter. Next chapter things will get even more interesting, and Gaara will have a bigger appearance in Chapter 3.**

**Well, most of chapter 3 will be about Gaara**

**Oh yeah, Sakura in this story lives in Michigan. **

**bye-bye for now,**

**MagenKyotenChiten.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Haunted - A Gaara & Sakura Story **

**By MagenKyotenChiten**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of its characters! But boy, I WISH I did!

**Summary:** GaaSaku 16-year-old Sakura Haruno looks like an ordinary intelligent nerdy high school girl, but she has gone through more than anyone can imagine...Being Abused and tortured both, physically and mentally. Can someone save her from this hell?

**a/n:** I'm sorry that the update was late. I've been really busy lately, and my laptop's memory has been completely erased. Plus, when it was just starting to work again it broke down. I just came back from a long err... annoying journey. And when I do get free time, my working on my other story, ItaSaku, which has a very... err hard to write plot. So here it is.

Note: Gaara and Sakura are the same age (16) in this story.

Itachi is 21.

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Chapter 3

It was bright and sunny Saturday in the big city Michigan, as 16-year-old Sakura Haruno woke up. The world seemed oblivious to what happened to her last night: the pain, the torture, and how he violated her in every way. There was no hint of the rain that fell last night or of the thunderstorm.

Sakura really didn't sleep. She couldn't sleep because him, how he haunted dream after dream, turning the dream into a nightmare. She took sleeping pills that didn't help. She had insomnia. She tried meditating, but that didn't help.

So, she mostly thought while sleeping, also praying for a better day, for someone to rescue from the monster and hell.

But little did she know what was going to happen very soon.

An event that would change her life.

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Meanwhile, our red-headed, green-eyed, handsome friend was in Amsterdam, Schipol, Airport. His direct flight to Michigan had an unexpected stop in Amsterdam. He hated Amsterdam so far. But at least his 8-hour flight from Japan to Amsterdam, being sandwiched between the fat lady ogling at him and the smelly old man was over.

Things in Amsterdam were expensive. "Damn Euros." he thought while gritting his teeth. He had traded all his yen for dollars. And dollars were worth less than euros. He was hungry and a hamburger at McDonalds there was 12 dollars! It wasn't worth his precious money. Just to stay in the hotel in the airport. One night was almost about 200 dollars! So he decided just to wait and sleep in the Lounge for his flight, which was the next day at 3:00 PM. Also for the food, he decided to wait until he was on the airplane, the food sucked. But at least it was something to fill his stomach! Water was 5 dollars there.

Anyway, the flight better not be delayed or have another unexpected stop. He wanted to be in Michigan, by Friday, so he could visit his brother and sister in New York for the Weekend, and be back by Monday to start his new high school. But what could he do? Nothing. So he just sat there in Lounge 3, waiting for his flight, while zoning out and listening to his SanDisk mp3 player.

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Sakura rubbed her weary eyes, and stretched. Wanting to know what time it was, she went and checked. 7:30 AM. Her eyes widened in surprise, Itachi would have had her woken her up and would make her clean the whole entire house. That's how most her Saturday mornings went. Surprisingly, she found a note in the kitchen from Itachi, in his scrawled writing:

_Gone Out. Won't be back until a couple of days. Enjoy the small amount of freedom you have without me. Little whore. But don't worry I'll be back soon. If you know what's good for you, you'll be a good little whore and won't break the RULES..._

Sakura frowned. Usually when he came back, he was much harder, crueler, and rougher with her. The RULES were a set Rules Sakura was supposed to follow at all times. If she broke there would be a major so-called "punishment".

The main RULES

1. Never to go in his room and this other room that was always locked.

2. Never to touch his personal items, like his TV, money, stereo, etc. The only things she could touch would be his clothes, when she had to wash them.

3. Never steal any of his items and use them.

4. Never interrupt him, and only talk to him, when he talked to her.

5. Never go in the fridge and take food out of there.

5. Always come back at home, straight after school. Itachi knew when school started and ended exactly, how long it took her to walk to school and back.

She sighed at least she had a short period of freedom. She also found a birth control medication bottle, next to note. Itachi always left them there, every morning, after the night he "played" with her. He couldn't afford for her to get pregnant.

She filled up a glass of water up at the sink, and popped one of the birth control pills in her mouth.

She washed and put the glass away. Itachi also had left her so-called breakfast on the table. It was this brown mushy thing that looked like and tasted like crap or cardboard. It looked like dog crap. It was the only meal for the week.

"Speaking of dog crap, there was a time when he actually fed it to me." She thought. Shuddering, Sakura did not want to remember that scarring memory. It was very disturbing.

After, taking a few bites of the "meal" Itachi had left her to eat. She decided she would dispose of it. She couldn't dispose of it, by dumping it in the trash can here, or dumping somewhere close near, like the neighbor's trashcan. The only place was in town. But town was too far, and noisy neighbors would report that she was going somewhere, to Itachi. She decided flushing it down the toilet was the best and easiest way.

After flushing it, she undressed out of the clothes Itachi gave her as pajamas, planning to take a shower. The pajamas were one of the few things Itachi had ever given her. It was shabby, black and soft. It was worn, had whole in it and too big for her. It made her remember her one of her fondest memories of Itachi.

Flashback

"Go to Bed." said stony 15-year said Itachi.

"I can't Ita-kun!" 10-year old Chirpy Sakura replied.

"And that is why?" He asked back.

"Because Ita-kun, when you said before you took away me from the home. You said that only to take a few items and no clothes. So, I don't have any pajamas!" Said Sakura, who pouted.

"Fine. Use these." Itachi replied emotionlessly. He threw a pair of soft black, shabby pajamas at her.

Even though the pajamas where too big for little Sakura. She still was very happy. "Thank You Ita-kun!" She said very happily, while smiling."

"Hn." He replied.

She was about run off and go to change into them, but before going, she looked back at Itachi. There was a hint of a smile on his face.

He had smiled at her!

And she had been so happy!

End of Flash

That was only the time he smiled at her. "It was probably a fake smile." She thought. But that was before...

Start of Flashback

A few months after the pajama incident...

10-year-old Sakura was undressing, getting ready for a bath. She turned on tap, so hot water would fill the tub. She was merrily humming. Just when, she was about to take her shirt off...

Itachi burst through the door, stumbled, heading right toward her.

Sakura screamed.

"Shut up, bitch!" He said. She smelled his breath and felt his breath on her. It smelled funny, a sharp tangy smell. It was alcohol. He pulled her long pink hair hard and looked up and down at her young undeveloped body in lust. Sakura screamed again, tears streaming down her face. "Ita-kun, what are you doing?" She was afraid. He had never acted like that. She didn't like the way he was looking at her. She felt naked, and tried to wrap her arms protectively around her body.

"I Said SHUT UP! Bitch." He shouted. He then brutally put his mouth on hers, shoving his tongue in her mouth. He roughly removed her arms that were around her. And started to rip her clothes her clothes off. She tried to stop him, but he slapped her. "Don't ever disobey me!" he growled. She cowered in fear. With her clothes off, he began to fondle her non-existent breasts.

Soon, growing tired of it. He unzipped his pants and took off his boxers. Sakura stared at in horror. It was what all the girls at school just started talking about...A man's penis.

He grabbed her hands and positioned her hands on his manhood. Making her rub up and down it. Then He pried her mouth open, and shoved his manhood in his mouth.

Sakura was afraid. She didn't want to do this. She started gagging and tried to take out it of her mouth. But Itachi put it back in her mouth.

He soon released in her mouth. And this strange, white, liquid started coming out in her mouth. It tasted horrible.

Itachi soon took his manhood, and shoved it in young, budding folds. It hurt like hell. Sakura was screaming like there was no tomorrow. She saw white flashes.

Itachi was moaning in pleasure, but tears running harder down, Sakura's face. When he was finally down, he grunted, gathered all his clothes and put them back on and left Sakura in the bathroom.

Sakura didn't know what he did to her. But it hurt. More than the time she had broken her pinky. And Itachi had never had acted like that before. He scared her.

The room smelled horrible

Not knowing what to do and confused, Sakura kept on crying and curled in a ball, rocking back and forth until morning came...

end of flashback

The first time Itachi violated her, and that's when her life broken into pieces. It was a horrible memory.

But those shabby, soft, black pajamas were a mystery.

They were too small for Itachi.

One day, When Sakura was washing them. She found a name: tiny and embroidered on the pocket. You barley could see it.

The name was "Sasuke"

A Japanese name.

From that day onwards, she wondered who Sasuke was.

She knew nothing about Itachi, only that he was the son of one of her beloved mother's friends.

A year later, Sakura broke the rules. When Itachi was out and went into his room. There was a big king bed. Mostly of the items in the room were black or red. There was not much light in the room. The room was messy. On a table, she found a picture. In the picture there was a younger-looking Uchiha Itachi, a beautiful woman with onyx-black eyes who was smiling, a grumpy handsome man, and a small kawaii child that looked a lot like Itachi.

She guessed that was Itachi's family. She found more pictures of Itachi's family, but they were labeled. The beautiful woman with onyx eyes, who was smiling in the earlier picture was labeled "Uchiha Mikoto.", Sakura guessed she was Itachi's mother; the grumpy handsome man was labeled "Uchiha Fugaku." She guessed he was Itachi's father, and the kawaii child that looked a lot like Itachi was labeled "Uchiha Sasuke."

Finally, she had found out who was Sasuke.

He was probably Itachi's younger brother.

Judging the picture, it looked like it had been taken some years back.

So, Sasuke should be approximately her age.

But that night, when Itachi had come, hell had broken loose. He had found out, someway, she had gone into his room and he was extremely angry. He fucked her and tortured her so long, that she could not go to school the next day.

Once, for one of her so-called "punishments" Itachi made her sit on a burning stove.

But Itachi has done more than that. When he is extremely angry, the things he does to her get even worst.

He has submerged Sakura in freezing cold water, he had made her eat her own vomit, clean the bathrooms with ammonia, and (he forced to drink a teaspoon of ammonia once.) He had smashed her into mirrors and even stabbed her in the stomach (She was lucky she had survived!) He had done many horrible, twisting, sickening, heart-wrenching, disgusting things to her.

To stay alive, she started stealing food from the school. One meal a week, was not enough.

But he finds out and then makes her stick her finger down his throat everyday, so she can see what is in his stomach. If food comes up she is forced to eat it.

It's amazing how she lived so long.

There were two sides of Itachi.

One side of Itachi where he pretended to act kind to her, that he actually cared for her. But he only acted like this in public, like at Open house at Sakura's high school, and when the social worker visited.

The other side of Itachi. When he brutally beat and raped her. Making her do disgusting, inhumane things for his sadistic pleasure.

That was the true side of Itachi. It showed as monster that he really was.

Who has no emotion, who cares about no one.

She endured it all.

What he did to this girl was sickening and no one saw the signs. No one helped her.

Why didn't the teacher, neighbors, and the society see her malnourished and beaten body?

She cried out for help and no one heard her cries or they did and ignored them.

That's all Sakura wanted, was to be loved and taken care of by Itachi. Instead every day Sakura came home to him and he would abuse and torture her in the most brutal ways.

She had given up all hope. It was only enough time before she died.

"But enough reminiscing on the past, let's look forward to the future!" Sakura thought with fake enthusiasm.

But the future didn't look very good to her.

Sakura sighed heading back to her room, planning to finish her algebra homework due Monday.

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Now, back to our red-headed, green-eyed, handsome friend. Saturday had passed. Now, he was currently in a bit of trouble with security check. They were hassling him, because of a nail clipper he had in his pocket. And this female Dutch security officer who had 5 inches of makeup caked on her face, and was wearing orange lipstick, kept on asking him (in a very thick Dutch accent)" Did anyone give you anything ze suspicious?"

"Goddamn Security Guards." he swore under his breath quietly.

Finally, they let him go board.

This time he was sitting next to this guy who didn't talk at all, which was perfectly fine.

The only thing to do during the whole flight was too watch TV and play games on the pathetic entertainment system. So, pretty much for the entire flight, he watched movies. Even after 8 movies, he still won't stop watching movies. The whole night, he did not sleep; he just watched movies, since he couldn't sleep. He was an insomniac. Sleep was a heaven that was out of his reach. Or a sweet lullaby that he would never hear.

Soon the flight ended and he was in Detroit Metro Airport. It was a very busy airport and again he was hassled even though he had American visa. "Gaara Sabaku is your true birth name? And you herby swear that everything you said and claimed is true?" asked the U.S security guard. "Yes, my name is Gaara and everything I said and claimed is true." he snapped.

Finally, an hour later he was free to go. He then asked a taxi driver to take him to the address where the apartment complex was, which he would be soon living in.

After, arriving at the apartment complex and going to the floor where his apartment was located, he opened the door to his apartment.

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The weekend passed by quickly for Sakura. Things were so much easier when Itachi wasn't around. But she didn't dare to break any of his rules and she constantly lived in fear that of him. And that he would come home early, and

Monday came and she was extremely happy, even if Itachi came home early, he would not catch her until later, when she came back from school. Besides, he probably won't be back until Tuesday.

Sakura woke up and took a brief shower and brushed her teeth. Itachi did not allow her taking a shower longer than 10 minutes. If she did even when he wasn't around, he would still somehow now, and she would be "punished".

She quickly put on a pair of old, too big brown black and a ripped black shirt.

Then she stuffed her homework in the ragged, ratty, old, patched bag that was her backpack, headed out the door and started the long walk to school.

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Currently our favorite red-headed handsome friend was in his apartment, pacing around. Ready, showered and dressed from school.

He wouldn't admit it, but he was nervous.

Today he was starting a new high school.

"Would this high school worst than my old high school in Japan?"

He scowled. He really didn't want to think about his past in Japan. It held too many bad memories and good memories. He shouldn't be thinking about the past, he should be thinking about the future.

But he couldn't help it. He drifted on his past, falling into light slumber...

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His name Gaara Sabaku.

He was born to poor couple, who already had two kids.

But Gaara was not supposed to be born. He was a mistake. A fluke.

The couple had wanted an abortion, but was too poor to afford it.

As a result, his mother Karura who was a very weak woman died giving birth to him.

And after that things fell apart. His father started drinking heavily, abusing Gaara, and blaming him for Karura's death.

His siblings ignored him blaming him for their mother's death. So, Gaara grew up abused by alcoholic father, ignored, and unloved.

He grew up without a mother's love.

Then at school, everyone shunned him or picked on him. He was friendless. One day, a boy was torturing him endlessly, by having two goons hold him, while he painfully burned Gaara, by putting hot cigarette bums on his skin. The boy taunted him "A useless weak sniveling thing."

He could not endure it any longer. The pain, the anger, the sadness of not being loved. A new demon was unleashed. Gaara lost control and killed the boy strangling him.

After that Gaara was know as a monster, and people stayed even father away from him, afraid of suffering the same fate.

Gaara was turning out all wrong. He felt nothing back then, only the lust to kill someone. He joined a gang and killed many.

He hated school. But he did not drug out. He absolutely found no good use for it. And he was rarely seen in school.

Then he later found out about drugs. Oh, how he loved them. How they made him feel. He felt so numb, there was no pain.

It felt so damn good, when he injected drugs in himself. The exhilarating rush that was so intense. The blood in his veins felt like they were on fire, every time.

But everything change, when he met Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto was an ex-gang member of the gang. A sworn enemy of the gang.

Gaara was supposed to shot him when the gang cornered him. But he couldn't. He was amazed at the boy's determination to stay alive. Even after being beaten badly, he would stand up every time. But then he felt angry at that boy. How could have betrayed the gang? Didn't he feel shame? And more importantly, Gaara never hesitated to kill someone.

That boy was making him feel confused.

But there was something about that boy that intrigued him. Feeling even more confused, Gaara vowed to kill him.

Gaara was again, instructed to kill Naruto. He tried beating him with his bare fists that could make any strong man fall.

Naruto was still standing. That boy had a stamina no ordinary human could have.

And then the impossible happened. Naruto beat Gaara. No body has ever beaten him before, except Naruto.

Gaara wanted to know how he was beaten and to know more about this boy.

Gaara later learned Naruto was a student in his school. Same age, same grade, different classes. Soon, Gaara was going to school everyday, just to spy on Naruto what he did.

But one day, Naruto caught Gaara watching him. He was very annoyed. And they fought again.

Again, Gaara lost.

But after that fight, a delicate bond of friendship was made between him.

Gaara and Naruto started to hang out with each other.

Naruto became Gaara's first friend.

Gaara learned that Naruto was like him in many ways. Naruto had no parents and he had been shunned and picked on. But later on, Naruto slowly started making friends. He wasn't lonely like him. On the brink of insanity, stuck in his own hell.

Naruto introduced people to him, his friends. They were kind people, which Gaara had never experience with. It has hard for Gaara to be use to having people around him. He wasn't exactly a people person.

But after some time, he got use to people. He would never be as enthusiastic to meet people, like Naruto. But still he could communicate with people, at least.

Gaara also started to make a close bond with his siblings. At first they were scared of him, the monster he used to be. But now things have changed. Now, he was very close with his siblings.

But the hardest part, in Gaara's life, was going to rehab. Naruto, his friends, and his sibling urged Gaara on. His addiction to drugs was dangerous. It was going to kill him, if he didn't stop. Drugs were what, Gaara used to vent out his frustration and anger on. It was extremely hard for him to give up drugs. He couldn't live without drugs.

Gaara was stubborn. He refused to obey. There were times when he thought; again he was going to be on the brink of insanity.

But after many days, and many months, Gaara was free to leave. He had finally conquered his drug addiction.

Soon his sister, Temari moved to NY to study fashion. Her dream always was to be a fashion designer. And New York had some best fashion-designer schools in the world. His brother, Kankuro also left for New York, where his was offered a well-paying job opportunity.

Gaara then decided too, that he would move out of Japan and into the United States. He had a hard, rough, long past in Japan. He needed to be somewhere new. He felt New York, wasn't his kind of place. After, researching all 50 states in the U.S, he found Michigan interesting. The unusually shape of the state, which was shaped like a mitten. Also, the fact that Michigan was home to more than 11,000 lakes fascinated him.

And for some other unknown reason, Gaara felt somewhat attached to Michigan, like there was someone or something there for him. Only god knew why.

He decided to move Detroit. A well-known populated city in Michigan.

And so Gaara got settled, he decided what high school he would be going to, where he going to stay, etc.

When, He got his U.S vista and passport it was time to leave. Gaara said his good-byes and headed on to a direct flight to Detroit, Michigan. And you know then rest.

Naruto and his friends was sad to see him go, but was happy for Gaara. He would be starting fresh. Japan held too many bad things of his past.

Of course they keep in contact phone and the computer. But things wouldn't be the same, without him there.

And that was his sad, rough past. But everything was going change for him, little did he know that he would be changing some else's life. He would be saving someone from their abusive hell, very soon...

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After, half an hour, Gaara woke up from his light slumber. Dreams of his past once again, haunted him.

He looked at the time. He cursed himself. It was almost time for his new high school to start. Thank God, he rented an apartment that was walking distance to his new high school.

But before getting leaving, he checked his cell phone. Missed calls.

Naruto already had called him three times in a row, today.

Lee had called thrice, also.

And Kankuro and Temari had called him two times, yesterday.

He smirked. It looks like his friends and family haven't forgotten him after all.

He put his cell phone back into his pocket and headed out the door, to his new high school.

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Sakura finally arrived at school.

After sometime. The walk to school was different. No screaming ladies at their husbands, no kids shouting, no early drug dealers dealing drugs to kids, and no pimps trying to recruit more prostitutes. The walk to school was peaceful. And she got to admire the beautiful sun rising.

And she didn't arrive early, either. She arrived just in time, for school to start, enough time to go to her locker without getting bothered; which was a good thing. If she arrived early, she would be a victim of early morning bullying, which wasn't pleasant.

Maybe, it was a sign, today would be better.

Sakura slightly smiled. She hoped.

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End of Chapter 3.

a/n: I'm really sorry about the late update. I mean no harm. My laptop crash and got broken again. And also, I went on a cross-country road trip with my family to drop my brother and his stuff of his college.

It was kind of hard being stuck in the same car as him. He's all ways bitching 24/7 and screaming at whoever's driving to go faster, or he'll be late for college and his room mate will come before him and take up all the space.

But I really doubt that. His room mate is Indian, like us. But he's from Kuwait. He's coming directly from Kuwait. Where it's tax-free. Damn it! I wish it was tax-free here.

Sometimes, it was really hard to get a hotel/motel. Because there was some event in town like a rodeo or something. Like, in NY it was really hard to get a hotel. In the end, we spend the night in a really nice 5 star hotel for $100 a night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Haunted, Chapter four **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the manga, Naruto or any of its characters or the book "A Child Called it." by David Pelizter. **

**a/n: Again sorry about the late update! I know a few things might sound familiar from the book called "Child called it", I don't mean to copy it, I may have used few ideas that seem similar from the book for Itachi's "torture" for Sakura. Sorry about that. Thank to all my reviewers.**

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------**

_  
Recap: _

_Sakura finally arrived at school. _

_The walk to school was different. No screaming ladies at their husbands, no kids shouting, no early drug dealers dealing drugs to kids, no perverts that lingered around the homeless shelter, and no pimps trying to recruit more prostitutes. The walk to school was peaceful, and she got to admire the beautiful sun rising. _

_She didn't arrive early, either. She arrived just in time, for school to start, and enough time to) go to her locker without getting bothered. Which was a good thing. If she arrived early, she would be a victim of early morning bullying. And that wasn't pleasant. _

_Maybe, it was a sign, that today would be better. _

_Sakura slightly smiled. She hoped. _

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**Chapter 4 **

Sakura slammed her locker door shut. There was nothing much in her locker; a small picture of her and her mother, heavy textbooks for each class, a tattered binder, and some pencils.

Her morning had gone well so far. No one had bugged her, but she bet that it would only be some time before her peace would be interrupted.

The bell rang. It was time for her first class. Sakura took out one heavy textbook, some pencils and her tattered binder.

As she walked through the hall, Sakura kept her head down. She hated walking through the halls. Too many people, different colors, different smells, and different looks. But the reason why she truly hated walking through halls was facing the looks people threw her at her or the expressions on their faces, and the whispers about her(self) as she passed people in the hall. She could hear them.

"What a weirdo."

"I heard that she works as prostitute to keep money rolling in for her family. What a slut."

"Look, there's the girl who's the school outcast."

"I heard that she's so poor that she digs out of dumpsters for her stuff."

"I heard she lives with a drug dealer who's also a pimp."

"Ew. Look at her clothes and stuff."

"I can't believe she sucks up to the teachers."

"Whore."

"Bitch."

"Freak."

"Nerd."

"Ugly."

"Loser."

The whispers would whirl around her and seemed to echo in her head. They wouldn't leave her alone.

And she knew those looks and expressions were of disgust. Everyone hated her.

But not everything was bad today.

She continued through the hall to her first class of the day, Advanced Calculus, with Kakashi Hatake.

He was her favorite teacher. Sure, he might be a little strict and read porn, but he was always so kind to her, like the father she didn't have. He always answered any questions she had, and he didn't go into her personal life like most teachers liked to. He didn't give too much homework either, which was always a plus.

The bell rang, and Sakura took what she needed, and headed toward Kakashi's classroom.

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He was on time because he really didn't want to be late on his first day. It didn't take too long to walk from his apartment to the high school he would be going to.

He walked up the stairs to the entrance of the high school, and went to where the office was. After talking with the secretary, Shizune, and getting his schedule, he went to his locker. After putting, the items he didn't need in it, he memorized the locker combination and headed to his first class.

As he walked to his first class, he did not bother to ask to directions. Most of the new, unfamiliar people he was surrounded by, were sneering at him, calling him the "New kid" under their breath. Girls were swooning over him. Guys were glaring at him, some just dying to pick a fight with him.

Then he noticed a room and the room's number_. So, this is where my first class is. Advanced Calculus with Hatake Kakashi_, he thought, while opening the door, not knowing that a person who would change his life would be sitting right there...

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Advanced calculus hadn't started yet. Kakashi was still waiting for students that had not showed up yet. And so Sakura had a bit of free time, so she was reading her advanced calculus book, going ahead of the class and scribbling down answers, so she wouldn't have it has homework. And besides, if Itachi came home, she wouldn't have time for anything. She had to be careful

Class was filled with chatter and it was hard to concentrate, so Sakura stopped. She had already gone ahead enough and it was no use if she couldn't concentrate.

She touched the back of her hair. No one had put gum in her hair yet, today. She hated it It was sticky and it took forever to remove. Then she checked her back for the "Loser" sign which people daily on her back. Nope. No one had stuck it on her back yet. Then she checked herself for spitballs. None

Sometimes, people would steal her glasses from her, if it was a really unlucky day.

_But it wouldn't be long before someone puts gum in my hair, tapes the stupid sign on my back, and hits me with spitballs_. Sakura thought bitterly.

"Settle down, class." Kakashi said lazily. Class begins.

"Let's begin now. We have a new student today. His name is Gaara Sabaku and he has transferred from a high school in Japan. Please welcome him." He continued to say.

And right then, the new transfer student walked in. He just stood there and seemed to stare at the class. He was handsome and tall. He had red spiky hair that seemed to fall in his kohl outlined green eyes, slightly tanned skin, and a muscular build. He didn't look very happy. He had dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in ages. And he was wearing a black leather bomber jacket with a black beater underneath, and black jeans with a belt and chains with black boots. But what was most unique about him was the tattoo of a Japanese character on his forehead

Sakura squinted. It was too far off to see what Japanese character it was.

"Ah. Gaara, welcome to our town and high school! Please take a seat next to Sakura. She will be your tour guide and show you around school." Kakashi said, motioning where Sakura was.

Sakura wanted to kill Kakashi at the moment. Another new student who would be kind to her and then the minute he would find out her social status as an outcast, he would sneer and spit at her like the rest of them. But Kakashi understood a small part of what she had to go though, so he wouldn't do this just because she was role-model student and all that crap. There must have been something about this boy that Kakashi sensed was different from the rest of them.

He didn't look like one of those weak kids that people picked on or the school outcast.

He wasn't goth either.

Sakura went through all the possible reasons why Kakashi choose her to show him around the school. Maybe this was another teacher's attempt to make someone be friends with her. But Kakashi wasn't an ordinary teacher like the rest of them.

He looked normal, but there seemed to be something different about him. Sakura decided in the end.

But this wasn't a good thing that Kakashi had assigned her to do, to show him around the school. Girls were already glaring daggers at her and throwing nasty glances her way, probably planning to kill her at lunch. Guys were staring angrily, already deciding he was a jerk, planning to make his life miserable. And Girls and guys were already deciding he was the perfect addition their clique and were glaring at Sakura.

She was going to be killed for doing this.

Sakura pretended to read a book, so when he passed her, he wouldn't see her face.

_He doesn't need to see my ugly, tired face_, she thought sadly. _I won't get to know him or really talk to him, just in case if he's like the rest. I'll just get through it and show him around the school briskly. Besides, it's not really like I can have a friend...Because of Itachi.' _

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Gaara scanned the room to find this so-called this Sakura. He locked onto her seat and began to make his conclusions of her. He couldn't really see her face, since she had her head buried in a book. From this, he was betting that she was a book worm. She was wearing old black pants that was extremely baggy on her, and an old, woolly, ugly brown sweater that was too big for her and had holes in it. It made her look lumpy and big. She was also wearing old, torn and ripped converses.

_Hm. It doesn't look like she cares much about her fashion sense. Or she's one of those shy people who like to hide their selves. _The only thing he could really see about her, as Gaara made his way through to his seat nextto hers, was the shocking color of her hair ; which was pink.

_A girl with pink hair?_ Gaara wondered with amazement. He then began to wonder whether it was natural or if it was dyed.

He was betting she wasn't, like a girl jock, a goth, a nerd, a cheerleader or one of those annoying people that were staring at him in hope that he would join their clique. And, hopefully, not one of those girls who were drooling at him already making a fan club for him. He knew he shouldn't judge her by stereotypes, but what could he do? It was a habit.

He was pretty sure she looked like one of those people who he could generally tolerate, even though he hadn't seen her face. And there were not too many people that he could generally tolerate.

"Hello." She whispered, behind her thick book which her head was buried in.

Gaara looked at her in surprise. She actually said something. "Hey," he said curtly.

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Sakura smiled in surprised. _At least he said hey. Most people decided I'm an automatic freak when they see me. _

Sakura scowled and mentally slapped herself. _What are you thinking? Even if he liked you, you couldn't be friends. Itachi would hurt him...Try to stay away from him for his own good_, she told herself.

But deep down inside, she hoped that they could be friends.

The bell rang and class ended. Sakura gathered her stuff and went to her next class.

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While, walking through the halls this time, Sakura didn't hate it so much. She ignored the glares directed at her and the whispers about her. She was happy. For once, in a long time, she was a teensy bit happy. Someone had acknowledged her as a human and said something to her. For the first time, someone didn't regard her as trash or some kind of filth.

Her day so far had gone smoothly. No one had bugged her surprisingly. Suspiciously, no spitballs were shot at her, no one had put gum in her hair, and no one had pasted a "loser" sign on her back. No one seemed to know that she was there today. She wasn't anybody's "victim", yet.

Now, it was the hardest part of the day for Sakura. The time of the day where she risked getting in trouble. Her stomach grumbled. She looked up at the clock on the wall: 11:30

_Half an hour until lunch. I should do it now.' _

Sakura raised her hand.

"What is it, dear?" asked Sakura's world history teacher, Mrs. Peterson.

"I need to use the bathroom." Sakura lied.

"Go ahead." Mrs. Peterson replied, going back to her lesson on World War II.

Sakura left the classroom. She looked both ways to make sure no one was in the halls. Then, she sneaked down the hallways into the cafeteria. _Perfect. The lunch ladies are probably are out on their cigarette break_, she thought happily. She looked around. No one was there. She licked her lips, the delicious smell of food wafted up to her nose.

She snuck behind the area where the lunch ladies served food. Her eyes shone in hunger and greed. There were trays of steaming pizza laid out, probably which the lunch ladies planned to serve today for lunch. It was her lucky day. Sakura looked for the supplies of what she would need. She smirked. Everything she needed was there. This was going to be easy.

First, she took the pizza cutter and carefully sliced every pizza slice on a tray. She set aside one slice and arranged the rest of the slices of pizza so it didn't look like a slice was missing Then she took the slice that she laid aside and wrapped in up in a piece of foil that was lying around. She grabbed a paper bag, which was also lying around, and put the foil wrapped pizza slice in a brown bag, then she stuffed it in her sweatshirt.

Sakura looked at her clock. 11:40. Ten minutes. 'Not bad,' she thought. But now she had to hurry back to class.

This is what she did almost everyday to survive. She stole lunch from the school to feed herself some true food. There was no other way. She couldn't steal other student's lunches, so this was this easiest way. The lunch ladies did have suspicions that someone had been stealing some of the food, but they never truly cared enough to catch the person.

She felt guilty for committing such a low act, but she needed to do this. The food Itachi fed her was barely fit for animals. And he only fed her once in a while.

Sakura snuck out of the cafeteria and ran down the hall until she reached her world history classroom. She walked back in and sank her seat. No one said anything. Sakura looked at the clock: 11:45. It had taken her fifteen minutes. She had beaten her old record.

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The ball rang signaling lunch. Students who had fourth lunch rushed into the hall, heading towards the cafeteria. Unlike everyone else, Sakura took her time, slowly walking to the cafeteria. Sakura liked lunch, it was one of the only times she got to eat a proper meal or some food. But she hated the cafeteria. There were so many people and it was too loud. She wanted to eat her lunch in peace.

She would normally eat in the girl's bathroom, but lately there had been too many popular girls coming up, to worship the porcelain gods after eating their lunch. It wasn't safe anymore.

She made it to the cafeteria and opened the door. She hung her head to avoid any eye contact. Sakura picked the lone table in the way back which nobody could really see. She grabbed a seat and sat down. Then she slowly took out her lunch, and unwrapped the foil which the slice of pizza was wrapped in. It was still hot. She stared at it in hunger. It wasn't an illusion. She ate it like an animal, gobbling it all and ripping off the cheese from the crust. It was gone in seconds. She licked the grease off her fingers.

Her stomach rumbled. She was still hungry, but there was nothing left to eat, not even one, measly little crumb. So, she looked longingly at the people that were eating food and resentfully at the people throwing food away.

But at least she got something to fill her belly today. Something good too. It was a small taste of heaven.  
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Gaara looked disdainfully around the cafeteria. There were so many people. So many people that were staring at him, too. He wished he had made his own lunch, after seeing what was on the menu for the school's lunch.

"What would you like?" The lunch lady lazily asked him. There wasn't much a choice. It was either a smashed ham sandwich or a greasy, disgusting piece of pizza that had a piece of the lunch lady's straw-colored hair on it

"Please give me the ham sandwich." Gaara said. The lunch lady dumped the ham sandwich on his tray. "Thank you." He said. She looked at in him in surprise. From the look on her face, Gaara was guessing many people here didn't have manners. He wasn't a person who really had manners, either, before he went to rehab. Rehab pretty much etched in the importance of manners in his head. You could say he changed in some ways, but there was always the cold part of him.

Now, it was time to pick a table to sit at. He had already received invitations from a bunch people to sit with them, mostly annoying fan girls. People were already waving at him, gesturing him to sit at their table. Gaara ignored them. He scanned the room for an empty table. No such luck. But he found a table (in the way back) in the shadows, way in the back, with only one occupant; that girl who he sat next to in Calculus. _Hmmm. What was her name? It was Sakura. She doesn't look so bad. _

He made his way to the table, ignoring the stares that were watching him and the hushed whispers and gasps as he passed by. He pulled out a chair, sat down, and put down his tray, picking at his ham sandwich.

There. That wasn't so hard.

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Sakura just stared at him, her jaw almost dropped in shock. "Why are you sitting next to me?" she asked him quietly.

"There were no more appealing seats." Gaara answered simply.

"Leave. People are talking. You shouldn't sit next me. Have you heard what people say about me? That I'm a freak. You're ruining your chances to make friends." Sakura whispered quietly.

"I don't care. I already have friends. And besides these people don't look like they could be good friends." Gaara said. He took a closer look at her, considering now he could see her face (, since earlier he couldn't.) Her skin was pale. Her eyes looked tired, dark rings under her them, hiding behind her large, ugly glasses that were cracked. Unlike most girls, she wasn't wearing any make up. Her skin was clear of any marring such as acne. Her face was gaunt. The look on her face was downcast. Her lips were cracked and bleeding.

_It looks like this girl has no self-esteem. She looks miserable. It looks like she has given up on life... _

"Stop staring at me." Sakura said. She didn't how intently he was looking at me.

"... You know, you would look better, if you stopped looking so miserable and actually smiled." Gaara said.

"Whatever. It's not like anyone would notice." Sakura said, focusing her gaze on the floor.

"People notice more than you think. People can tell when someone is happy or sad. Sometimes, they ignore it and sometimes they take advantage of it," Gaara said. "If you are hurt, put on a fake smile. Hide the pain or fear, so people don't notice."

"It's not as easy as you say it is." Sakura said, now focusing her gaze at Gaara. He seemed to be serious about this. Now, that she could clearly see what Japanese character was tattooed on his head. It was Ai, the character for love. But why in the world would he have that tattooed on his forehead?

"That's because you are not good at hiding your emotions. You are easy to read like an open book." Gaara shot back.

"I'm not that easy to read. I've hidden too many things to name from people." Sakura said.

"But it looks like your dying to tell someone all these things. It's not healthy to bottle everything up." Gaara noted.

"I'm sorry." Sakura said, her head down.

"What are you sorry for? Stop apologizing. You haven't done anything wrong. You treat yourself like you are something low and you blame everything on your self. Stick up for yourself. You are a human, you have rights." Gaara said.

_This girl treats herself like a dog. How sad. Kind of like what I use to be like. But what reduced her to this_? Gaara wondered, disgustedly.

Sakura looked up. "Don't you think I have already noticed my flaws?" Sakura asked him, sighing. "You don't need to list of all of them."

"You haven't. Because, obviously, you haven't changed any of them. When a person learns of his or her flaws, they strive to change them. Because they want to be perfect." Gaara said.

Sakura had enough of this. She didn't need to hear anymore. She was trash and that was that. "You don't know what it's like to be me. Just be quiet." Sakura said.

"I know what it's like to be you. Because I was once in a position like yours." Gaara said, suddenly quiet.

"I would have not said anything, If I didn't experience it myself." Gaara said softly.

All was silent between him and Sakura. Sakura was dumbstruck. He had gone through what she was going through? The hell of pain, sadness, loss, and anger? All of that? Impossible. No one had gone through she had to go through. But he wouldn't lie. But how did he escape it? Sakura wanted to know.

Her stomach growled, breaking the silence.

She stared at his ham sandwich in hunger.

He smirked. "Here, have it. I'm not hungry." He tossed the sandwich to her. Sakura caught it and stared at it if she had just won a million dollars. Then she just stared at him, looking suspicious.

_Is he being kind or is playing with me? _

"Is this a gesture of friendship?" She slowly croaked out.

Then Gaara smiled, just a tad bit. "Maybe." he said.

She unwrapped the sandwich and ate it like a hungry animal. She ate everything until there wasn't a crumb left. Her belly was full and that rarely ever happened.

Then suddenly, Sakura for the first, she too smiled. "Thank you." She said softly. And for it was a true smile.

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After thanking Gaara, Sakura left the cafeteria and headed towards the girl's bathroom. She entered the bathroom, humming happily, before noticing she was in bundle of trouble. Finally, she looked up and she froze. Almost every single girl in her grade was there, not just the girls that liked to pick on her. Each girl had an angry, smug, but particularly nasty, expression on their face. She was surrounded. There was no way out. They all started to advance on her, like a pack of wolves on their prey. She was their prey.

Finally, the leader stepped out of the ground. It was the girl who had made Sakura's life miserable from the first time she had started middle school. It was Maya Michaels. She was a tall, thin, bony girl that loved to humiliate Sakura in anyway possible.

"You slut." She sneered. "How dare you, bitch, have the nerve to sit next to Gaara?" She was breathing on Sakura's neck. "He's ours, four-eyes. Stay away from him. We don't want him associated with smelly filth like you. You aren't worth his time, whore. He will never be friends with you! Once he knows what a freak you are, he'll stay away from you." She continued on. "Really, what a slut. You probably flirted with him to get him to sit next to you, trying to get in his pants. He was probably so annoyed, that to get you to shut up, he sat next to you. Besides, who would love you? You are too ugly, smelly, and fat. No one in the right mind would like you." Maya grabbed Sakura's hair and pulled it hard. Sakura cried out in pain.

"Shut up you, ugly bitch!" One of the girls said, slapping Sakura hard across the face before gagging her with a rag.

"You probably think you're so sexy, but you are not! And remember, we won't let a weird bitch like you take him away." She whispered in Sakura's ear, before pulling her hair again and smashing Sakura's face against a bathroom stall.

Sakura slid to the ground. Her glasses were, once again, broken, and blood was dripping for from her nose. But she did nothing. She had no energy to fight back. Sakura just closed her eyes, just waiting for this to be over. Which was the wrong thing to do. "You think you can ignore us, you little whore? Well, think again, while actually using that pathetic, big brain of yours." Maya said smirking.

The rest of the girls closed in on her.

"Get her." Maya commanded. Then, all the girls were kicking her everywhere for what seemed like forever. Sakura fell down and the girls started kicking her ribs. She was in excruciating pain. Sakura screamed again and again, but no one could hear her muffled screams. One girl took away her glasses and smashed them to pieces beyond repair.

Tears kept on rolling down Sakura's cheeks. 'God, please let this end,' she prayed. The girls took turns punching Sakura. Then finally, one girl hit her with a baseball bat. Sakura clutched her head in pain.

"Did you learn your lesson?" Maya asked Sakura. Sakura managed shake her head. _Yes, now just fucking leave me alone!_ She screamed inside of her head.

Maya pretended to think it over. But then she smiled. "I guess that's a no. Show her some more, girls." She commanded.

One girl delivered a painful blow to Sakura's ribs. Sakura suddenly couldn't breath. She struggled for breath as tears rolled down her cheeks. The girls laughed at her misfortune, until Sakura was slowly breathing in ragged breaths.

Maya bent down to Sakura's height. "I heard that you are a prostitute and your mom used to be one, too. Well, what do you know? Like mother, like daughter." Maya said, clearly saying the comment to hurt Sakura.

And it did. The comment stung Sakura more than anything. The tears rolled down her cheeks faster and Sakura clenched her bruised and bloody fists. _My mother wasn't a prostitute! She was a nurse. I'm not going to let her say that about my mother! That bitch can say anything she wants about me, but she will leave my mother out of this.'_

And suddenly, Sakura gained strength. Strength to protect herself and her mother's pride. Sakura kicked Maya hard in the face. "Don't ever say again say anything about my mother." Sakura said trembling.

Maya got back on her feet, shocked that Sakura defended her self. "You'll pay for that! Girls do it." Maya spat out.

The girls pulled Sakura up by her hair and then Maya took out a pair of scissors. "Guess what I'm going to do? I'm going to cut your stupid pink hair." Maya sneered. Maya got closer and closer ready to cut Sakura's hair with the scissors...

"Stop." Someone suddenly said. Everyone froze.

Then Sakura's savior stepped out of the shadows. It was Gaara.

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"You are going to kill her if you go on any further." Gaara said.

Maya dropped her scissors. "Gaara, you've got this all wrong! Sakura here suddenly tried to attack me for some no good reason and you just saved me" Maya said nervously.

Gaara stared at Maya. "I'm not a fool. Don't lie to me." He said coolly. "Leave. Before I tell the school administration what you did to her." Gaara barked.

"But Gaara!" Maya protested.

" I said LEAVE." Gaara said dangerously.

The girls scrammed out of the bathroom, as Sakura lay bloody and bruised, on the floor. She stared at him. "How did you know?" she croaked.

"I heard them talking about it at lunch. They were planning to target you, when no one was around. So I followed you up here." Gaara answered.

Gaara observed the bloody, bruised, and injured Sakura before him. Her face had minor scratches, blood was smeared across her face, her nose was bleeding, she had a lump on her head that looked painful, visible bruises, and her glasses were smashed to pieces

He bend down to her level. "You are a mess." He noted, stating the obvious.

Sakura spat out the bloody rag, one of the girls stuffed in her mouth as a gag. "You think?" she asked him sarcastically.

"I think you need to go see the school nurse. Scratch that, you need to see a doctor. Gaara said.

Sakura's eyes widened in fear. "I don't want to see the school nurse. And I can't go see a doctor." She said frantically.

Gaara narrowed his eyes. "I can understand why you wouldn't want to visit the school nurse, since you want to keep this quiet. But why not a doctor?" He asked her.

"Because I don't have insurance. It would be expensive." Sakura lied.

Gaara was suspicious. But he decided not to pry any further in her own matters for now. "We need to get you out of here." Gaara said, helping Sakura up.

Where would he take her? She didn't want to go to the school nurse or a doctor. But she needed to get treated. Finally, Gaara found an abandoned classroom. He helped Sakura get inside and sat her down.

"You, know you the girls are going to hurt me even more if they see you helping me." Sakura croaked. She was hurting all over.

"They won't." Gaara replied.

"How do you know?" She asked him dryly.

"Because I won't let them." Gaara said.

His answer shocked her. For once, someone was actually helping her and sticking up for here.

"But why? Why are you helping me?" She wanted to know.

Gaara ignored her. "Stay where you are. I'll be right back." He instructed her before leaving the abandoned classroom and Sakura all alone.

But inside, he knew the reason why he was helping her. It was that haunted, broken look her eyes. That was the exact same look he had in eyes before he met Naruto.

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Gaara couldn't believe he was doing this. He was resorting to what he did in the old times when he had gotten hurt in fistfights. But he had no choice. Sakura didn't want to see the school nurse and she didn't want to see a doctor. And she needed treatment. Gaara briskly walked down the halls, scanning for the nurse's office. Ah, he had found it. The office was empty and on the door was a note hastily scribbled: "Out. Lunch break. Will be back soon."

This was perfect. But if he was caught, it would lead into big problems for him. The school was already wary letting him in, because of his past. If they saw he causes any problems, they would probably expel him in a heartbeat. He went over to the nurse's cabinets where she kept all the medicine.

He opened it and searched for the supplies he would need. He grabbed gauze, band-aids, some antiseptic, cotton swabs, aspirin, q-tips, and a bottle of water. Then he dumped everything in a plastic bag and left the nurses office.

He hurried back to the abandoned classroom. Nobody was watching. He had gotten away with it. He slipped behind the door.

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"I'm back." Gaara announced. He held up the bag upside down, letting everything it contained fall out.

Sakura widened her eyes. "How did you get that?"

"I stole it." Gaara said.

"You shouldn't have done that." Sakura told him.

"Too late. I already did it." He said.

"Did anyone see you?" She asked him, afraid.

"No." he replied.

"Good." she said sighing, in relief.

He gave her aspirin and the bottle of water. "Here, you need it." he told her. Sakura had no objections, and swallowed the aspirin with water.

Then Gaara carefully applied antiseptic to the q-tips, and dabbed some on each cut on her face.

Sakura winced, and squirmed.

"Be still or I can't get it on." He told her angrily.

She stood still.

He treated every single cut carefully, putting some antiseptic and a band-aid on each one. Until there was one cut left. There was certain nasty large cut on her leg that was seeping out blood. He reached to roll up her pants, so he could see the cut better. But Sakura saw what he was doing and stopped him before he could do it. She lightly slapped his hands away.

Gaara looked up at her in surprise. "Why won't you let me roll up your pants?" He asked her.

Sakura thought fast. There was a particular scar right up above the cut Itachi had given her and she didn't want him to see it. "I'm self-conscious." she blurted out.

Gaara cocked his head to one side, looking suspiciously at her. "Hn." he said. And he went back to applying antiseptic to the cut, then he carefully wrapped her leg in gauze to stop the bleeding.

Then he stood up, lightly dusting his hands. "You are fixed up. But I would recommend you to go see a doctor. Now, all you need to fix-"

But he was interrupted, by a certain buzzing noise. His cell phone. Gaara sighed and picked it up. It was Naruto. "Hello, Naruto." He said, clearly quite annoyed.

Right when he mentioned Naruto, Sakura stiffened. "Naruto?" She asked. "Uzumaki Naruto...?" She said with a hint of recognition.

Gaara narrowed his eyes. "You know him?"

"Yes... He was my best friend, before I moved here four years ago." Sakura said slowly.

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **

**END OF CHAPTER 4. **

**End of chapter, a/n: So, did you guys like it? I know all have you have been waiting in anticipation for this chapter. I will try to update this story sooner. And so Gaara and Sakura finally met. Next chapter, we learn a little about Sakura past. Thank you to all my reviewers again! And a special thanks to one of my BETA reader, who BETAED this chapter, La-Garce-Fille. I couldn't have done it with ought her. Anyways, until the next chapter. **

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**Haunted, Chapter 5**

**A/n:** Sorry about the late update. I have other stories to update and I was having a lot of writer's block for this story. I'll try to update next week too, since ideas are fresh in my mind for this story. I've finished writing two other chapters and I'll be starting to write chapter 8, soon too. Oh and I apologize if there are any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors too, because my BETA reader is on holiday vacation, I guess and didn't reply. So, I couldn't wait any longer. I'll repost the BETA chapter, later on.

I've had an great holiday, got some nice stuff not as nice as the stuff all my other friends got such as $100 gift cards to Abercrombie and Fitch, a PS3 + a ton of games, Wii, etc. But I'm still very grateful for what I got. My parents aren't the richest people ever.

I'm a little bummed out, because one of my friends who's pretty popular, got a new boyfriend and he's really really good-looking. A very handsome Asian with sweet hair. And anyways, I've developed a small crush on him and I'm jealous of my friend, because I haven't ever had a boyfriend and she's had quite a bunch of bfs.

And the boy, who I really like. Well, he's older than me and doesn't even know I'm alive, and so he'll probably never go out with me, let know acknowledge me.

Happy Holidays! And a very happy new year. Wish me some luck, too please for the New Year, that I won't be so hopeless and clumsy and I won't repel the male gender so much. And I'll be wishing you some luck, too.

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_Recap:_

_Right when he mentioned Naruto, Sakura stiffened. "Naruto?" She asked. "Uzumaki Naruto...?" She said with a hint of recognition. Gaara narrowed his eyes. "You know him?" Gaara asked her. _

_"Yes... He was my best friend, before I moved here four years ago." Sakura said slowly._

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"Did you know anyone named Sakura?" Gaara questioned Naruto.

"YES! She was one of my best friends since primary school, but then we lost contact, when she suddenly moved to the U.S for some unknown reason, but if you ask me, I think she had to move because of her -" But Naruto was cut off.

Sakura grabbed the cell phone from Gaara.

"Hello, Naruto." She said excitedly.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto burst out into the phone.

"Yeah, it's me." Sakura said, trying very hard not to cry.

"HOW ARE YOU? WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING? WHY DID YOU MOVE? WHAT'S GOING ON WITH YOU?" Naruto screamed into the phone.

Sakura held the phone away from her ear.

"Enough questions about me. How's everyone else in Japan? Tenten, Rock Lee, Neji, Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru, Hinata..." Sakura went on listing old forgotten friend's names.

"They're all fine. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces, when I tell them that I actually got in contact with you." Naruto said, in glee.

Sakura smiled. "I wish I could see you." She whispered into the phone.

"Same here. So, how did you meet our good friend, Gaara? He came to us, a couple months after you moved."

The smile slid off Sakura's face, the minute he said that.

Gaara took the phone back from Sakura.

"Long story, I'll tell you, some other time." Gaara said monotone voice.

Sakura shot Gaara a grateful look.

"Aw, man." Naruto whined.

"Sakura-chan, what way can I contact you? I'm sure the rest of the gang would love to talk to you.

A fearful expression crossed Sakura's face.

She gingerly took the phone from Gaara.

"Um. I don't have a computer, so we can't e-mail and it wouldn't be really a good idea to call my home phone number, since it would be expensive. And I don't have a cell phone. The best way to contact me would be through Gaara's cell phone. We go to the same high school." Sakura explained.

"That works well. I'll talk to you later!" Naruto said cheerfully.

"Bye." Sakura said weakly and ended the call.

She handed the phone back to Gaara.

He stared at her.

"Who gave you permission to use my cell phone to give as contact number to Naruto?" He asked her.

Sakura looked down. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. You've got a lot of questions to answer. What's your story?" Gaara inquired.

Sakura fixated her gaze on the floor. "It's been so long. Give me some time to back memory lane."

"Take your time. I'll be waiting." He started placing all the materials he had stolen into a bag and handed it to Sakura.

"Here. You're going to need it. Go put it in your locker, before the bell rings and someone sees."

Sakura gave a long glance at Gaara.

"Thank You. It's been a long time, since someone has done so much for me." Sakura said, bowing before walking to the door of the classroom and exited.

Gaara ran his hands through his unruly red hair. "Don't thank me." he said quietly, after she had left the room.

_This girl gives me a strange sense of Deja Vu. Maybe, because she reminds me of my old vulnerable self. _

_But why the world does she gives me the urge to protect her? _

She has a lot to explain. And all, he could do for now was wait.

Gaara sighed and then left the room.

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Sakura slammed her locker door shut. She had no idea how she was going to hide that medicine from Itachi. But he wasn't home right now, so she had a chance.

_I owe a lot to Gaara. He sat next to me at lunch, he saved me from those girls, he stole medicine for me, and he let me talk to Naruto. How in the world can I repay him? Does_ _he want to be friends? And why in the world is he doing this for me? Why is he helping me?_

She sighed and was slumped against her locker, arms crossed, eyes closed, pondering what she could do.

Suddenly a voice blared from the loudspeaker awakened her from her thoughts.

"Sakura Haruno, your presence is requested in the principle's office."

Her eyes snapped open and widened in horror. This wasn't going to bode well.

Slowly, she trudged forward towards the office with a heavy heart.

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This wasn't how Gaara planned his first day to be like. Sitting in the principle's office. The minute, he stepped out of the abandoned classroom, a young secretary dragged him to the office, telling him his presence was requested in the principle's office.

"She's waiting to see you." The young secretary managed to squeak out. She was cowering in fear of Gaara.

He rolled his eyes. "You may leave now." he told her. She scurried away and Gaara sauntered up to the door, opening it and entering the principle's office.

"Sit down." A nasal voice commanded him.

It was the principle.

The moment he saw her, he instantly disliked her.

The principle was an old obese woman wearing a very unflattering pair of purple trousers and a matching purple blouse. She had a pinched and painful expression on her face, like there was a rat or something smelly shoved right under her nose.

She glared at him. And she looked him over head to toe and before giving disapproving cluck.

_Hn. The old hag is probably forming predictions about me that aren't even true. Judging me by how I look and what I'm wearing. _

Gaara glared right back her, before slowly pulling up a chair and sitting down.

He scanned the room, seeing if there was anyone else besides him and the principle.

Sure enough, there was Maya and her cronies from before, seated right across from him, sneering at him. Giving him a you-are-so-busted look.

_Ah. So this is about what happened before. That girl must have wanted to get back at me and made up some sob-story to get me in trouble. How pathetic. Two can play at the game. _

"Why am I here, wasting my time?" Gaara demanded to know, pretending that he didn't know why he was here.

The principle coughed. "We can't start yet. We still have to wait for Miss Haruno."

_She's out to get Haruno too. _

"Whatever. Why can't we get just get started with ought her? She's such a slowpoke." Maya whined.

Gaara rolled his eyes and started impatiently tapping his fingers against the arm of the chair, he was sitting in.

Suddenly, the door bust open and a very flustered Sakura came in.

Maya snorted and whispered something to her cronies, making them burst into pearls of fake laughter.

"S-sorry, I'm so late." Sakura stammered.

"I'll ignore your tardiness this time. Next time, it shall not happen again. Sit down." The principle said eying Sakura in dislike.

Sakura stricken, sat down in the nearest seat, which happened to be right next to Maya.

Maya looked at Sakura in disgust and moved away from her. "EW. I'm not sitting next to someone who smells like dog shit! Take a shower, freak!"

Sakura blushed in embarrassment before looking down.

"Stop, it girls. Now, let's get started about why all of you are in my office." The principle prompted.

She sighed, shooting both Sakura and Gaara a reproachful glare. "Sabaku Gaara and Haruno Sakura are both in danger of receiving a detention and a suspension for attacking other students.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gaara immediately stood up. Impossible, he wasn't here to take the blame for something he didn't do. "What? I did no such thing." He spat. He looks over at Sakura. Her face was pale and fearful, but she said nothing.

The principle gave him and Sakura a smile, dripping with venom. "Oh, yet we do have some witnesses and victims who claim you did such." She said sweetly.

Gaara crossed his arms and scowled. "Nonsense."

The principle's smile just widened. "Yet, we have Maya and her friends here, who claim that you and Miss Haruno suddenly attacked them in the girl's bathroom."

"Prove it." Gaara said, staring daggers at her.

The principle smirked. "Maya, here as you can see as a bloody nose, which she claims, Miss Haruno gave her. And of course, there are the witnesses that are willing to sell you out. That's plenty of proof.

"Why would I want to attack her, when I barely know her?" Gaara interrogated.

The principle gave him a smug look. "The motive that Miss Maya and the suspects agree on is jealously. Miss Haruno attacked Maya because she was jealous of her. Since Maya is a straight A honor student with a clean record, has nice accessories and is sociable popular with everyone. And you agreed to attack Miss Maya with Miss Haruno for the motive of money, since Ami had $500 dollars in her purse, and you were in need of money." She said pleased, holding up a torn but very nice ladies purse, shoving it in Gaara's face, so he could see that there was only a blood-stained twenty in the purse.

Maya smirked.

Gaara was enraged_. That bitch is accusing of stealing someone's money because I was desperate? She's going to get it. She's playing with fire, if she's going to deal with me_.

Yet, he remained to have a cool and calm facade. "I believe you're mistaken. I don't need someone else's money and even if I was desperate, I would not ever steal money from anyone, not even a lying, worthless pathetic fool like her. I would work for money. And how do you know she even had 500 dollars in her purse? She could be lying." He said eyeing Maya is complete hatred.

The principle just smirked. "I have complete trust in Maya, that she is telling the truth. Besides, she a perfectly, nice girl who's an honor student that wouldn't hurt a fly. And why should I believe you over her? A new student who I barely know and has a not very clean record. And this isn't Miss Haruno's first offence either."

Gaara clenched his fists until there were deep red crescent shape marks of his nails digging into his skin of his palm. "You don't know who I am and you can't judge me because of my record." He spat.

The principle disregarded him with a lazy yawn. "Let's move on to Miss Haruno. Do you have anything to say from yourself?" She said, her voice dripping with sweetness.

_How pathetic. Moving on to the weaker suspect. _

Sakura's hands were trembling. "Please don't give me a detention or even worst a suspicion. I really can't afford it. I'll do anything." She pleaded.

The principle grinned; satisfied she had trapped the suspect in her web.

"Don't beg the old hag. Tell her the truth." Gaara said quietly.

Suddenly, everyone turned to stare at him.

"What did you just say? Is that a confession?" She asked Gaara, victoriously.

Gaara snorted at her. "You wish. This is the truth. That your precious little Maya is nothing more than a lying, cheating, devious, pathetic little fool who beats innocent people up with her cronies. She and her cronies ganged up on Sakura and started beating her up until I came up along and saved her ass. And that precious Maya of yours must have wanted to get back at me and made up some sob-story to get me in trouble and threatened some people to be victims. "

A very angry expression appeared on the principle's face. "Impossible. You're lying. Getting Miss Sakura to lie with you." She sneered.

"Ask her. Just ask her." Gaara said smugly.

"Miss Haruno is that true what he said?" Her voice dripping with venom, daring Sakura to say yes.

All eyes turned on Sakura.

_You can do this. You can say yes, you don't need to hide it. You've been hiding the truth for a long time, Maya's been beating you up since forever and you would always take the blame. Time to get her back,_ Sakura told herself.

She took a deep breath.

"Yes. It's true." She said quietly.

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**END OF CHAPTER 5**

**End of chapter, author's ramblings:** Hoped you guys liked it. I really will try hard to update this story at least twice or thrice a month from now onwards. This will be some sort of a long fic. Maybe 10-20 chapters. Sankyuu to all of my reviewers. Couldn't have wrote this with ought all of you.


	6. Chapter 6

**Haunted, Chapter 6**

**A/n:** I'm being very lazy right now. So lazy, that I forgot to send this to my BETA reader. Please forgive me. I ran 2 - 3 miles on a treadmill and then busted my ass on an eclipse machine for another 2.15 miles. In total, I burned 795 calories. Came home and then stuff my self with some kind of Panini bread sandwich which was about 450 calories, a Dosa which was 140 - 170 calories, and then had a granola bar which was 9-100 calories. Oh and I munched on some buttery popcorn with pepper, cheese, and salt while watching The Devil Wears Prada.

Yes, my resolution this year is to be a size 0 or 00! I'm a size 8 and I weight about 122-130 pounds and I am 5'4. Yes, not the skinniest you can be. But sadly, size 8 is the new size fourteen. Since, companies starting making their pant sizes bigger so American Woman wouldn't feel so bad about their sizes and will feel better knowing there a size 8, when they're really a size 12. But that isn't me. I don't fit in a size 12 any where; I'm pretty sure juniors or women. But of course, I can't find into a girl's size 12. I wish.

I'm a very lazy ass. And I'm quite pissed because I found some very nice polo shirts at Abercrombie a place I never shop at for $15 a piece which was a very good buy, but my mom didn't let me buy even with my own money because she thought the clothes were too tight. Her perspective of too tight is when a shirt actually fits you correctly.

Now, it keeps haunting me in my dreams, even though I tell my self Abercrombie is just some crappy store that has a terrible history of racism, lawsuits, and selling 7 year olds smutty thongs, lawsuits. And yes, Abercrombie use to sell safari equipment or some other kind of shit before selling clothes. Plus, all the clothes are made in China by sweatshop workers for extremely poor pay an hour.

Also, if I ever threw those shirts in the dryer they would probably never ever fit me again.

_-------------------------------------------------_

_Recap:_

_She took a deep breath. _

_"Yes. It's true." She said quietly. _

_---------------------------------------------------_

Everyone was silent.

Suddenly, Maya sprung up from her chair and pointed an accusing finger at Sakura.

"Impossible, she's lying. You can't believe her." Maya shrieked.

"Be quiet and sit down and let me think." The principle snapped at her.

And so, Maya shocked that the principle actually yelled at her, quietly took her seat.

Sakura's heart was racing and her palms were sweaty. _Is she going to believe Maya and blame us? Of course, Maya is her favorite student. But I really can't afford a detention or suspension, Itachi will kill me. All those other times, I manage to weasel out of it, because of my good grades and my teachers, but I don't know about now. She's seems pretty serious about. Oh god, please don't let me get a detention or a suspension,_ she prayed.

Gaara clenched his fists tighter. _There's no way, she can believe that pathetic whining fool. Besides, if I get a detention or suspension Temari and Kankuro won't let me hear the end of it and will believe I can't live by myself._

The principle massaged her temples with her sausage-like fingers.

"Give us detention and suspension for something we didn't do, and I'll take it to court." Gaara said quietly.

"No one will be going to court! Since this is all unclear, I shall settle this myself and talk to the witness one more time to know what truly happened. For now, Sabaku Gaara and Haruno Sakura will not receive detention and suspension for alleged assault. Now, all of you get out of my office! OUT! "She snarled.

Gaara smirked. He didn't need to be told twice.

He rose out of his seat and left.

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Two hours had passed since the incident in the principle's office. Sakura gave a sigh of relief. _God must have heard my prayers. _

There was no way in hell would she be prepared to face Itachi's wrath, if she had gotten detention and suspension.

But she really owed it all to Gaara. Because of him, she really doubted that they would have left there with ought suspension and detention.

She was currently in World History with Ms. Mitarashi

"Homework page 541! Questions 1-21 about the Civil War, due tomorrow! I won't take no for answer." Ms. Mitarashi chirped enthusiastically.

The entire class erupted in groans.

Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _Ms. Mitarashi is hyper active; it reminds me of Naruto sometimes._

Her eyes filled with tears.

_Naruto... I can't believe I got the chance to actually talk to you. I thought I would never see you again. Itachi ripped up all of my friend's numbers, so I could never call them again; he would never allow me to have any contact with any of my friends. _

_Today is miracle. I got to talk to Naruto and escaped detention and suspension. _

Sakura twirled her lanky, thin, dirty, pink hair with her pencil.

_Mhmm... Maybe more good things will happen. Or not. _

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Meanwhile, Gaara was science.

"Identify the materials under the microscope, please." Mr. Gekko said, coughing.

Easy. Its Cyan bacteria, primarily found in every habitat.

"Here, you take a look." Gaara muttered, pushing the microscope towards his assigned science partner.

_That damned principle and foolish girl, trying to get me in trouble. I certainly, showed them. _

_And that Haruno girl. Why in the world, didn't she stand up for herself? She didn't say anything except turn pale and started shaking once that principle mentioned suspension and detention. It's like she couldn't bring herself to stand up for herself. That Maya girl must have been bullying her for sometime and she must have been taking the blame for it_

_But at least she said yes. That was a start. . _

_This school isn't any better than the one I went to in Japan. Except there I had friends. _

_Here, I have this Haruno girl, who seems to be the main target of trouble._

Then the bell rang, interrupting Gaara's thoughts.

Finally school's over.

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"Hey, move it!" Someone said, pushing Sakura.

Currently, she was in the middle of the crowd trying to get to their lockers.

_I hate this. _

Finally, she was free of the crowd and walked over to her locker. Turning and twisting the lock to the right numbers, so that her locker would open.

Sure enough, it popped open.

She started loading the textbooks she would need for homework tonight and her binder.

Slowly, she walked out of the school and started her long walk home.

_Please, please don't let Itachi be home tonight. _

"Walking home?" Someone said, interrupting her thoughts.

Sakura turned around.

It was Gaara.

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"Yes. Are you walking home too?" She asked him, in a small voice.

"Yeah."

"Thanks for earlier. I mean, thanks for doing all those things for me today." Sakura mumbled.

"... You could easily do those things yourself, if you actually stood up for yourself. So, do you live near by the school?" Gaara asked her.

Sakura smiled sheepishly. "Nah. I live quite far off, actually. The bus does not stop anywhere nearby I live. So do you live anywhere near the school?"

"Yeah. I live in the apartment complex around the apartment complex."

"Cool. I gotta go, the walk home is pretty long and I want to be home before its dark." Sakura said nervously.

"..."

"See you around then." Sakura said, before turning around and starting her long walk back home.

"...Wait. You sure, you are going to safe walking that long by yourself?"

The edges of Sakura's mouth turned up into a smile.

"I'll be fine." She called, waving goodbye to him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gaara watched her go off in the distance. He wasn't so sure she would be safe walking home by herself so far. There was this uneasy feeling in his gut.

Yet, he did nothing except turn around, going a separate way to his apartment complex.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura looked around warily. _What time is it? _

The sky was streaked with pink and orange and the sun was setting.

_Hmm ... Maybe 4:30 PM or 5:00PM? _

_It's getting late._

The homeless in the allies were staring at her hungrily like an animal, eyeing her to see if she had any money or food on her, that they could steal like her.

Sakura shot them all a venomous glare, as if telling them don't even dare to think about it.

She turned and walked into another dark alley, which was empty.

But the stench of dead animals hung heavy in the air.

Sakura wrinkled her nose in disgust. _I don't want to even know what happened here, no wonder no one's here. _

Holding her nose, she ran quickly through the alley and took a right turn, leading into the neighborhood, which she lived in.

Unlike most days, her neighborhood was quit. Usually it was quite noisy with people swarming all over the place doing all sorts of illegal things, since the police didn't even bother to check the neighborhood out.

She walked up the driveway of the house; she lived in and pushed open the old broken metal gate.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly starting walking up the steps to the entrance of the house. She squeezed her eyes shut. _Please, please don't let Itachi be home. _

Then she reached out to knock on the door, but surprisingly the door creaked open, as if welcoming her inside.

Cautiously, she stepped inside.

"Itachi?" She called out nervously.

No answer.

She sniffed the air. It smelled perfectly fine and not of beer.

She took off her shoes and walked into the living room. No one was there. She went in the dining room and then into the kitchen. No one was home.

Then she discreetly, began to climb up the stairs leading to Itachi's quarters, trying to not make any noise.

"Itachi" She quietly whispered.

No response. Not a sound.

Her heart soared.

Her wish had been granted. Itachi wasn't home.

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**END OF CHAPTER 6. **

**End of chapter, author's ramblings**: I'm getting a lot of questions about Sakura's past and Itachi's relationship with her. Have no worry. That's what chapter 7, 8 and most likely 9 is going to be about.


	7. Chapter 7

**Haunted, Chapter 7**

**A/n: I got too much too say. I look terrible and I did a week's worth of homework in a day. And I learned today that writing four chapters at the same time for four different stories and trying to finish writing all four chapters is a difficult feat. I got chapter 8 finished, it will be up next week. Lust, my other story will be updated either today or this week. I was planning just to focus on Haunted, but ideas kept on popping up for Lust. And Living with Itachi will be updated too. Sorry if there are any grammatical errors for this story, my BETA reader isn't responding at the moment. I'll post the edited verison once I get in contact with my BETA reader. Also, I would suggest listening to "Runaway Love" By Ludacris while reading this story. It goes along with the story, I guess. Or maybe, I just like that song too much. I'm in a good mood, Harry Potter 7 is coming out soon and I just found some very hot pictures of Daniel Radcliff pretty much naked. Anyways, ignore what I just said about my freakish obsession with Harry Potter. **

**So enjoy. Happy Super bowl. **

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

She raced down the stairs and into the basement. Sakura rushed over to where she kept her mother's picture. Grabbing it, she hugged the picture with all her might. Tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Thank You, Kaa-san. Arigatou. He's not home. Today's been a miracle." She quietly whispered.

She set down the picture and stared at it.

Thinking about the past. When her mother was alive. She didn't even stop her self this time from thinking about the sore subject. She allowed her mind to drift back into the past...

Her mother had been a strong, smiling woman all her life. She was a spitting image of her. As long as Sakura could remember, it had always been her and her mother. Plenty of times, she had asked about her father. And Everytime there sad and faraway look was on her face. "Your father has gone away for some time. One day, he'll come back for us."

She could only guess her father had left her mother.

They had been pretty well off strangely, since her mother did not work at all. She and her mother had lived in a big white single-family de attached house in Tokyo. Sakura still could remember the spacious backyard, which she could play in and the smell of chocolate cookies that filled the house that her mother would make.

School was OK. Other kids would tease her about her big forehead. And Sakura hated it. But her mom would always tell her, "Sweetheart, don't believe them. One day, you'll grow out of it." and make it better.

Then she met Ino, who in Sakura's opinion was popular and pretty, things she wasn't. Things changed. She and Ino became best friends and slowly she started making other friends such as Naruto, Hinata, etc. as she grew older.

It was heaven.

Then one day when she was nine, she and her mother had to move away from the big house, that they lived in and moved into a small room apartment. She still remembers when she asked why they had to move away from the single family de attached house they lived in. Her mother would say "Sweetie, I'm sorry but we couldn't afford to live there anymore. Things will get better, I promise you."

And Sakura believed her.

Her mother started working at a nearby hospital almost all the time, seventy hours a week to scrap enough money to keep them in the apartment.

She was left alone most of the time, learning to cook and do the laundry and other household chores by herself, so she could save her mother some time. Since, when she came home, she would always be exhausted.

But even though, they were poor, Sakura and her mother were still together. And sometimes, when they had some money left over after paying the bills and the rent, they would sometimes go out places together, shopping, vacations, etc.

But they still couldn't afford to live in the apartment and had to move into an even shabbier and smaller apartment in a bad neighborhood. After a couple of years, Sakura's mother had lost her job at the hospital. She couldn't find work anywhere and had to resort working to working at a bar, late at night.

Sakura even took up a job herself, babysitting and doing chores to make enough money to keep them from not living in the streets.

Your little piece of heaven turns to dark...

That's exactly one day that happened to Sakura. The day when she lost one of the dearest people to her heart. The worst day in her life, when her heaven broken into pieces.

Sakura will never forget that day in her life. That cold day in December.

When she was told, "Are you Sakura Haruno? I'm very sorry. Your mother is dead."

She was never the same after those words.

This was also a reason why she always hated the holidays. The anniversary of her mother's murder.

_Flashback_

_It was a beautiful snowy day in December. School was almost over and winter break was only days away. Everyone was abuzz with excitement. It was Sakura and Ino's free period and they were hanging out at the school's library. _

_"Neh, forehead-girl. What do you want for Christmas?" Ino asked her. _

_Sakura laughed. "I have no clue. What do you want Ino-pig?"_

_"That hot guy we saw at the cafe the other day." Ino said, dreamily. _

_Sakura snickered. "In your dreams" _

_Ino smacked Sakura. "How rude." _

_Suddenly Haruno Sakura, please report to the office now blasted out of the school's loudspeakers. _

_Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. That's strange. I never get called down to the office. Maybe I'm in trouble?_

_"You better go. I wonder what you did to get called down to the office." Ino said teasingly. _

_"Yeah. I'll see you later." and with that, Sakura left the library. _

_As she strolled down the corridors to the office, Sakura felt an uneasy feeling down in her gut. _

_Something isn't right here. _

_Soon, she entered the office. The principle was waiting for her. A kindly old lady. She peered down at her. "Sakura Haruno?" _

_"That's me."_

_A sad expression crossed the principle's face. "We just got a call. Your mother has been shot and is in the hospital." She said softly, her voice filled with remorse and piety. _

_Suddenly, it was hard for Sakura to breath. Her eyes widened in shock. _

_"Is she OK? How is she?" She asked the principle, breathlessly. _

_A grim expression crossed the principle's face. _

_"From what I know, she's in a critical condition -"_

_Those were all the words Sakura needed to hear. _

_She ran out of the office, unto the school's campus, and unto the streets. _

_"Wait! Her condition could improve." The principle cried out and made a motion to stop her. _

_"Don't run there! It's too dangerous. Let me get you a cab to take you there." The principle begged her in last minute attempts to stop her. _

_But it was too late. No one could stop her now. _

_Tears streamed down her cheeks as she ran. With only one destination in her mind. The hospital. _

_She closed her eyes. Please be ok, Oka-san. _

_She ran like she has never before. Her heart pounded with fear every step. With each step, she grew faster. Full of energy and fear. She raced through the streets, knocking people over. But she didn't care. _

_Please let me be there in time. _

_Soon, the hospital came into distance. _

_She burst through the entrance doors. _

_"Can you please tell me where is Sachiko Haruno located?" She asked the receptionist at the desk, panting. _

_She flipped through the pages of her hospital book. "Third floor, critical injury ward next to ER. Room #25." The nurse instructed her. _

_And off she went. _

_Sakura dashed up the stairs and up to the third floor. Surgeons were swarming the place and sick patients were being transferred to different floors. _

_Room 25, she thought scanning each room. _

_There it is! And she sprinted towards the room. _

_Suddenly, a cold hand was on her shoulder stopped her from entering. _

_It was a doctor. _

_"Looking for Sachiko Haruno?" He asked her gravely. _

_"Yes. I was told she was located here. May, I please see her?"_

_The doctor stared at her. "Are you Sakura Haruno? I'm very sorry. Your mother is dead." He said his voice full of piety. _

_Sakura's heart stopped. "No, no. This can't be true." She whispered quietly._

_She shoved the door open and ran it. _

_Then she stopped, dead in her tracks. _

_There was her mother covered in a hospital sheet. Her mother's hand lifelessly danged from the bed. Sakura clasped her hand. _

_She stepped towards her mother and lifted up the sheet, a sheer look of pure fear and sadness was on Sakura's face._

_Her mother's eyes were closed and she was as pale as a sheet. But a peaceful expression was on her face. _

_Sakura stared at the blood seeping through the thin hospital gown her mother wore near her stomach. Near her shoulders even there was even more blood stains. _

_"She died of the gunshot wound to her stomach." The doctor said sadly. _

_"This is just a dream." Sakura told herself and pinched herself. _

_Then the full blow of realization struck her then hard. _

_She was there and her mother was dead. _

_She sank to the ground and started weeping. Holding her pink hair in handfuls, miserably tugging it. Trying to tear out her beautiful pink hair. But alas, it was no use. She started pounding her fists on the ground. _

_"Why?" She screamed. _

_"WHY?" She then howled. _

_Her screams echoed through out the entire hospital. _

_But it was no use her mother was gone. Dead. Nothing or no one could bring her back. _

_End of flashback. _

She found out later that her mother was shot by a thug, on her way to the bar where she worked as a bartender. He had shot her twice. The first bullet hit her back, wedged between her spinal cord and the second bullet hit her in the stomach. The bullet which hit her in the stomach had started seeping acid into the heart and lungs and eating it away, which was the deadly and painful cause of her death. The thug, who was drunk, apparently had mistaken her mother for one of his former notorious girlfriends.

But Sakura could never believe that reason. Both, Sakura and her mother had distinctive natural pink hair and Sakura doubted any of the thug's ex-girlfriends had natural pink hair. You could never mistake the both of them for anyone else except maybe each other.

She became bitter and hatred began to build up inside in her heart against her mother's killer. Desperate for revenge.

And so with this determination, Sakura couldn't wait for the trial for her mother's killer. She wanted to crush him with the lawyer the state had given her for free.

Days passed and soon the day of the trial came. It was a heart wrenching and horrible experience Sakura would never forget. Especially, when she in court and saw that thug looking not a single bit remorseful, claiming innocent.

It took all her willpower for her to just not to kill him in court.

Her mother's killer DA was smart, convincing, and shrewd. They ruthlessly bombarded Sakura with questions. They claimed that Sakura's mother was a cheap prostitute who worked at the bar and that their client had just made a harmless mistake and he wasn't drunk. He had no motive.

This enraged Sakura. There was no way her kind, beautiful mother was a prostitute! She had dignity.

It tore her heart to pieces to see them dishonor her mother like that.

But in the end, the juries had decided that her mother's killer could be let out on a five hundred thousand dollar bail. And so, he paid the bail and was free.

And on that day Sakura learned that there truly is no real justice in this world.

Soon, her mother's funeral came. Sakura had saved and scraped every single penny for this day. It had cost her a ton to afford a coffin, priest and services at a funeral home. The only people that attended the funeral were a handful, Sakura's friends and coworkers of her mothers from the hospital and from the bar. It was a cold and rainy day. That was also a day Sakura would never forget.

Then came the problem of who would take care of Sakura and be her guardian since she wasn't legally eighteen. Sakura's only family was her mother, she never knew who was her father and she had never met her mother's family.

She ended up in foster care, but no one wanted her for long. She was tossed around like package. Finally, social services found her mother's family and she was moved into their care.

But they weren't happy to see her. They despised her and her mother and didn't want anything to do with her. "The whore's child" she was called often. They treated her terribly, like she was some kind of disease, not allowing her to eat with the rest of her family. They confined her in a small room, giving her food every now and then and letting her go to school and the bathroom. She always heard them whispering about her and her mother, poking fun and disrespecting her mother. Kids wouldn't play with her, always whispering "Did you hear about her mom? She was a prostitute."

The people there hated her and wanted her to be gone. She was unwanted.

Finally, social services removed her from their care. They were desperate to find someone to permanently take care of her. Finally, they found a new person to take care of Sakura, "An old friend of her mother's."

But then her new guardian went missing and when finally Social Services found her new guardian whereabouts, her new about to be guardian was found dead.

The social services were very desperate to get rid of Sakura. And they arranged Sakura's guardian to be her mother's old friend's son, with ought checking his background. And all, she was told was his name "Uchiha Itachi."

She would never forget that day when she first met Itachi. Never ever. And little did she know on that day, her new guardian was a heartless crazy monster...

END OF CHAPTER 7

End of authors a/n: I really hoped you liked that. Next chapter will also have a little more about Sakura's past and her relationship with Itachi.


	8. Chapter 8

**Haunted, Chapter 8**

_Recap:_

_She would never forget that day when she first met Itachi. Never ever. And little, did she know on that day, her new guardian would become a heartless monster..._

* * *

**Chapter 8**

On the way to Itachi's whereabouts, that fated day when she was supposed to meet him, the weather was terrible. Rain heavily poured down from the skies and the clouds were a dark ominous gray was if warning her of her horrible future. Sakura remembers vividly, how wind shook the trees. She could feel the wind's wrath rattling the car. It was needlessly to say, that she was shaken and afraid. They were far from the city and into the barren country, the remote country.

She could tell the social security worker, Rin driving the car was also shaken. With the directions to the place she was suppose to meet Itachi in one hand, Rin drove recklessly with the other hand, going twenty miles over the speed limit.

"Are we there yet?" She would ask Rin, every ten minutes, her teeth chattering.

"Not yet." was Rin's brief answer.

Finally, by the time the dark ominous storm had passed they had arrived. The sky was bright and sunny as if the storm had never even happened.

Rin took a deep breath.

With an uncertain smile, she turned around to the back seat. "We are here!" she said before opening the car door and stepping out of the car.

A look of fear and curiosity was on Sakura's face. Will this person be the same as the rest? she wondered. Very slowly, she gripped the handle to the car door and opened it and gingerly stepped out.

She gasped as she saw what was in front of her. A gigantic Japanese style mansion.

Whoever this person is, he or she must be a very rich and a traditional person.

"Never seen anything like it?" A deep voice behind asked.

Sakura whipped around.

A fair dark haired man was behind. He was handsome with breath taking features and beautiful obsidian eyes and long black silky hair up in a ponytail. He had a tall but lean and muscled body.

Sakura felt herself flush.

"H-hai. I've never really seen anything like it since I use to live in the city."

Rin smiled and blushed when she saw the handsome man. Sakura had a sneaking suspicion she had a small crush on him.

"You must be Sakura's new guardian." Rin said a little too sweetly for Sakura's liking and held out a dainty manicured hand for Itachi to shake.

He ignored Rin and fixed his attention on Sakura. "Was the ride long?" He asked Sakura softly.

"It was fine." Sakura mumbled.

"You must be tired. Let's go inside." He said turning back towards the house.

Sakura watched his retreating figure and hesitantly began to follow him.

He pushed open the entrance door to the enormous mansion and gestured Sakura to follow him.

Sakura entered the house and her jaw dropped open at what she saw.

The halls were decked with beautiful paintings, statues and other art work, and were spacious with high ceilings and had exquisite designs etched into the walls. Sakura had no doubt this was a beautiful house. But it gave off an eerie dark aura.

"So, what's your name?" Rin said, batting her eyelashes and fluffing her hair.

Sakura stifled a giggle and fought the urge to roll her eyes.

Slowly, Itachi turned around to face Rin.

"Your business is done here. Leave woman. We don't need you here." Itachi said coldly, the expression unreadable.

"But the paperwork a-" Rin protested.

"Leave. Now. Please, don't make this complicated." was his answer, his black long bangs covering his eyes, his hand reaching for something in his pant's pockets, pulling it out giving Rin a glimpse of it. It was a knife, glinting in the light, daring Rin to disobey to him.

Rin gulped and took a couple steps away from Itachi before running out of the house.

_Scary_, Sakura thought.

Once, she had heard Rin's car had started up and left, roaring off in the distance, Sakura spoke.

"Why did you want her to leave?" She wanted to know.

"She was a foolish, useless, annoying woman that would get in the way." Was his reply.

"But you didn't have well... so cold." Sakura said, a bit suspicious of him.

"She wouldn't leave, so I needed to scare her a bit. You don't really think that I would have actually used that knife on her, if she didn't leave?" He said pleasantly, laughing.

She decided not to answer that question. _Now, he acts all nice, I guess he didn't really like her. But still, I don't think I can trust him. The rest of my foster guardians were total assholes._

"So, now that's she's gone, we can progress to knowing each other. So, what's your name?" Itachi asked her, flashing her, a charming smile.

"Sakura Haruno. What your name?"

"Uchiha Itachi. Sakura, that's a very beautiful name. Suits you well." He said, smirking.

"I'm not beautiful." Sakura told him, scowling.

But inside, she was really pleased. _Maybe, this guy isn't that bad as I thought. _No one really told her she was beautiful or pretty except her mom.

"Is that a Vincent Van Gogh Painting? she thought, raising an eyebrow, while she was passing a painting.

But even more noticeable in the halls, was a symbol of a paper fan that was everywhere. Most of the symbols were demolished, some with knives through the middle of the paper fan and some with half of the symbol torn off of the wall.

Sakura squinted at a paper fan symbol that had a knife through its middle.

_What the hell?_

"I see you're observing the symbol. It's my clan's symbol, uchiwa the paper fan, where my surname originates. Did you know, ancient Japan, uchiwa were used in court ceremonies to denote nobility, as souvenirs, and to protect soldiers from arrows?" He said matter-of-factly.

"No. But why are all the symbols demolished somehow?" She asked him.

The expression on his face darkened.

"My clan was pathetic, greedy, and full of themselves. It's a long story. I'll tell you sometime later. Let me show you around." He said bitterly, clearly showing he didn't want to talk about of it.

Sakura shut up for a while as he showed her the all the rooms, the living room, family rooms, empty rooms, etc.

"This is your room." Itachi said, sliding the shoji door to a room. It was spacious room with tatami flooring, a large closet, a spacey elegant modern bathroom, and a large comfy futon.

He sauntered over to closet and opens the doors, revealing a bunch of new clothes.

"I bought you new clothes. I thought you would need some. Looks like I was right." Itachi said.

He was eyeing the dirty, worn, clothes Sakura was dressed in.

Finally, they had finished touring the house and were back in the halls near the entrance.

Sakura's eyes flashed. _I don't need his charity_, she thought.

"Thanks." She said flatly.

"Let's go eat some ice cream in the kitchen. Which one do you prefer, chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry?" He asked her warmly, flashing her, a pleasant smile and held out a hand for her to take.

Sakura stayed put and stared at him.

"Why? Are you so nice to me?" She asked him, looking suspicious at him. She maybe had softened up a bit to him, but she wasn't quite ready to trust this man yet.

He simply flashed her, another pleasant smile.

"Because I know what you've been through."

Those words struck a chord with Sakura.

Very slowly, she took her fragile, pale, slim hand and placed it into his hand. His hand was warm and calloused and his fingers were slender.

He gently squeezed her fingers and strolled into the kitchen with Sakura in hand.

He let go of her and sauntered up to the freeze/refrigerator, retrieving a tub of Neapolitanice cream.

Sakura stared at the tub of ice cream. She hadn't had ice cream in such a long time. Before, her mom rarely bought since it was too expensive at the store she had shopped at it.

But before they had moved into the apartment, her mother had bought it all the time. She had so many memories of laughing with her mother, eating ice cream in the good old time before they had any money problems.

Her hands started to shake at the thought of her mother. She didn't want to remember. She wanted to forget.

"What kind of ice-cream what would you like, Sakura?"

"Strawberry, please." She said quietly.

"...I had a feeling strawberry was your favorite." He said pleasantly and began to scoop ice cream from the tub into too small bowls.

"Itachi?"

"…"

"What flavor did you pick?" Sakura asked him shyly.

"Vanilla. I like the taste of it. It's unique. Sinfully sweet and white... the color of purity and innocent." Itachi said thoughtfully. If she had listened closely, she would have heard the tone of his voice was quite dark.

"I like strawberry ice-cream too. It is also very sweet and innocent. The smell of strawberries is intoxication. But the taste is not as unique."

He finished scooping the ice-cream. "Here. Try it." He said, handing Sakura a delicate bowl with a quite large serving of soft crème Strawberry ice-cream and a spoon.

Then he began to eat his ice cream.

She took a taste and closed her eyes. It was delicious. There were so many words to describe what it tastes like that. It was adorable, ambrosial, appetizing, choice, dainty, darling, delectable, delightful, delis, distinctive, divine, enjoyable, enticing, exquisite, good, gratifying, heavenly, luscious, lush, mellow, mouthwatering, nectarous, nice, palatable, piquant, rare, rich, sapid, savory, scrumptious, spicy, sweet, tasteful, tasty, tempting, titillating, toothsome, very pleasant, well-prepared, well-seasoned, and every other word in a dictionary that basically meant yummy.

It had a soft, sweet creamy taste.

And at the same time it was quite melancholy bringing back many memories.

"Did you like it?" Itachi asked her.

"It had been some time since I've had ice cream. It was delicious. Thank you" Sakura said, meaning it very much.

Itachi had a pleased and amused expression on his face. "I had no clue you liked ice cream so much. I have a sweet tooth. I'll buy more ice cream every week." He promised her.

Sakura smiled.

And the both of them slowly started to eat the rest of their ice cream in silence.

"Where's the rest of your family?" Sakura suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

Itachi stopped eating. "Dead." He said emotionlessly.

Sakura felt awkward and bad for asking such a question.

"Oh."

"Don't be sorry."

"... Do you miss your family?" Sakura wanted to know.

Itachi stopped eating. His emotionless composure changed and an emotion Sakura couldn't recognize flickered through his usually cold facade.

"I guess... My family didn't really understand me. Do you miss your mother?" Itachi questioned Sakura.

Sakura's eyes filled with tears. "Yeah. She was one the most precious people in my life. I'll always miss her."

"Hn." Itachi grunted.

Sakura finished the rest of her ice cream and set aside her empty bowl. She folded her hands in her lap, signifying she was done eating.

Itachi, soon afterwards also finished eating.

"Let's go to the park. It's nearby." He said, flashing Sakura another one of his enchanting smiles before getting up and exiting the kitchen.

"Hai." She said quietly before running after him, trying to keep up with his quick pace.

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Her mint green eyes were sparkling with life and her cheeks were flushed.

"Go faster, Ita-kun!" Sakura howled with laughter.

"Hn." It just made her laugh harder to see an embarrassed and annoyed expression on his usually stoic face.

Itachi was currently giving her a piggyback ride in the park. The park was adjacent to the large mansion and was also a playground, built by his clan for the childern to play in and the adults to relax in. The park was lush and full of greenery, beautiful flowers, and play equipment for children such as see-saws, swings, merry-go-rounds, jungle gyms, and sandboxes. It was every young child's dream.

There was also a golf course, a tennis court, a swimming pool, and beautiful walk ways to look at the breath-taking scenery creating an exquisite environment.

It was quite a grand place to be. And it was quite the scene, seeing Itachi giving Sakura a piggyback ride. She was on his shoulders, screaming, laughing and pointing at things while Itachi, who was holding unto Sakura's slender ivory legs, was glowering.

So, far she convinced him to go on the see-saw with her, and to swing on the swings, and to climb the jungle gym.

_This is so much fun! I could play here all day!_ she thought, while clapping her hands in glee.

"Let me down!" Sakura commanded.

Itachi let her down with ought any argument.

She grabbed his hand. "Let's go on the merry-go-land."

He shook his head. "Forget it. It's getting late. We have all of tomorrow and everyday to explore the entire park."

Sakura pouted. "Pretty please?" She begged him.

Itachi considered her proposal for a moment. "Fine. But the merry-go-land is the last thing we do and then we go back." He muttered.

"YAY!" She cheered and grabbed Itachi's hand, dragging him towards the merry-go-round.

She jumped on the merry-go-round.

"C'mon, push me." She demanded.

"…" He gave the merry-go-round a big shove and it starting spinning fast.

"Wee! This is so much fun." She screamed.

"…Please hold on tight."

Sakura clenched the bars on the merry-go-round tight, while screaming and laughing having the time of her life.

Finally, when it stopped spinning.

"Get on, Ita-kun!" She said.

"No." was his firm reply.

"C'mon, it will be fun." She tugged on his hand.

"Fine. You have the energy of a four-year-old. But we are defiantly going back after this." He said grumpily before giving the merry-go-round a final hard shove before hopping on the platform.

As, they spun, time seemed to stop for a minute.

Sakura smiled at Itachi. She removed one of her hands from the bar, slowly reaching out and held his hand. He flashed her pleasant smile back.

Slowly, the merry-go-round stopped.

"Let's go." Itachi said.

"OK." Sakura said cheerfully, following Itachi towards the house.

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At the entrance of the gigantic mansion, Itachi told her to stay there.

"Wait here. I'll be right back. I have a surprise to show you." He told her, before disappearing the huge mansion.

And so, Sakura waited. Her heart beating fast with excitement. _I wonder what it is_, she thought.

A couple minutes, Itachi reappeared. He had a bag with me.

"Close your eyes. Hold my hand and I'll guide you."

And so Itachi guided her, while she thought what in the world could his surprise be.

"Open your eyes. We're here." he said.

And she did. Her mouth fell open is surprise and awe.

"Wow, it's so beautiful." She said quietly.

They were in the backyard. Tons of tons, of Sakura trees surrounded them. All of them in full bloom. Cherry blossom petals swirled around them, gently swaying the air before falling. Itachi had meant for her to see the Hanami.

It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. A beautiful scene of fully blossomed Sakura trees and a beautiful sunset in the background. Paper lanterns were hung everywhere.

Sakura loved Hanami. When, she was younger, her mother would drive them all the way Kamogawa or Hokkaido. She was always struck in awe seeing the beauty of all the full blossomed cherry blossoms.

"I knew you would like it." He told her.

The both of them stared at the beautiful scene before them.

Soon, the moon appeared in the sky. It was a full moon, clear and bright.

He set out a picnic blanket and gestured Sakura to sit down. He took a seat and handed her a small box.

Her face brightened. It was strawberry Yumiki Daifuku. One of her favorite kinds of ice cream. She eagerly opened the box and removed the carton contained the ice-cream and started to dig in with the plastic pick that came in the box.

"You're hungry." He noted and started removing items from the bag he brought with him. The items he removed from the bag was food in containers. There were all kinds of food, Onigiri, Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki, Sekihan, Nigiri-zushi sushi, Anpan, Yakisoba, Taiyaki, Oshiruko, and delicates such as Caviar, Foie Gras, Fugu, Shikasashi, etc. Some of the dishes, Sakura didn't even recognize. There were her favorite foods such as Umeboshi and syrup-coated Anko dumplings.

"Please choose anything you want." Itachi said, handing her a bowl and chopsticks.

Sakura dumped some Onigiri, Sekihan, Umeboshi and syrup-coated anko dumplings in her bowl.

Itachi scooped some Anpan and Dango on his tray.

"It's been a really fun day." Sakura said, popping an Anko dumping in her mouth with her chopsticks.

"I loved Hanami. Especially when I was a little kid. It's been a long time since I've seen one." She continued to say, staring at the Sakura trees.

"I like Hanami too. But I favor cherry blossoms. I admire them for their luminous yet fleeting and ephemeral beauty. They show that nothing beautiful lasts for ever." Itachi said solemnly.

"Hai"

Tears began to fell out of Sakura's eye. "Thank for everything. Arigatou for giving me a life again." Sakura whispered.

His face was downwards and not visible, as his blank long blanks covered the expression on his face. Very slowly, he reached out to her, wiping away her tears.

Sakura closed her eyes in surprise.

"Don't be sad or thankful. You don't owe me for anything." He said.

Finally, he looked up at her, his onyx eyes magnifying as he stared at her.

"Trust me."

He flashed her, another of his pleasant smiles and held out his hand.

"I trust you." She whispered softly.

Sakura didn't even stare. At once, with no hesitation, she slipped her slim ivory hand into his warm, inviting, calloused hand and squeezed it. And she made the decision that would change her life forever. She decided to trust him, falling into his luring trap, having no idea what was in store for her in the future. Oblivious, that he would turn on her and abuse her, and make her life hell. Not knowing that he would make her a shell of what she was and haunt her in her dreams and in her head. No where was safe from him.

Oblivious of anything, they lay there in the beautiful night, gazing at the Sakura trees.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 8**

a/n: Not much to say. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. My head's killing me right now. I really do need to find a new BETA reader again, no one is responding! E-mail if you are interested. To qualify, you must be a native English speaker and know grammar extremly well.

Definitions (All definitions were retrieved from Wikipedia or Japan Twinisles.)

**Hanami** (**花見****Hanami** lit. "flower viewing") - is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers, "flower" in this case almost always meaning cherry blossoms (桜 or 櫻, sakura?), or ume blossoms (梅, ume?). From late March to early April (early May on Hokkaidō), sakura bloom all over Japan.

**Kamogawa or Hokkaido** – regions in Japan

**Onigiri** (おにぎり, 御握り) also known as **Omusubi** (おむすび) - is a Japanese (short grain) rice ball snack most commonly formed into triangle or oval shapes and wrapped in seaweed (nori). Traditionally, the onigiri is filled with pickled ume fruit (umeboshi), salted salmon (sake), katsuobushi or any other salty or sour ingredient

**Yukimi Daifuku** (Japanese: 雪見だいふく "snow-viewing daifuku") - is a brand of mochi ice cream manufactured by the Japanese/Korean company Lotte. It consists of a ball of vanilla ice cream wrapped in a thin layer of mochi, or rice cake. Lotte originally created Wataboshi (Japanese: わたぼうし "cotton hat or capped with snow"), a bite size ice cream wrapped in a thin layer of marshmallow in 1980. Marshmallow was quickly replaced by mochi that is favored much more than the western flavor by Japanese as the company perfected a technology to keep mochi soft in the freezing temperature in 1981

**Okonomiyaki** - (お好み焼き, **_Okonomiyaki_**) is a pan-fried Japanese dish cooked with various ingredients such as kimchi, octopus, squid, mochi, cheese, etc. In Japan, okonomiyaki is usually associated with the Kansai or Hiroshima areas. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region.

**Takoyaki** - (たこ焼き or 蛸焼, Takoyaki?) (literally fried or baked octopus) is a popular Japanese dumpling made of batter, diced octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, konnyaku, and green onion, topped with okonomiyaki sauce, green laver (aonori), mayonnaise, and katsuobushi (fish shavings), that originated in Osaka.

**Sekihan** - (赤飯, lit: "red rice") is a Japanese traditional dish. It is sticky rice steamed with azuki beans, which give a reddish color to the rice, hence its name.

**Nigiri-zushi** - (握り寿司, lit. two-cut or hand-formed sushi). Arguably the most typical form of sushi at restaurants, it consists of an oblong mound of sushi rice which is pressed between the palms of the hands, with a speck of wasabi and a thin slice of a topping (neta) draped over it, possibly bound with a thin band of nori.

**Anpan - **(あんパン) is a Japanese sweet bun filled with red bean paste. There are many types of Anpan

**Yakisoba - **(焼きそば, _Yakisoba_), literally "fried noodles", is a dish often sold at festivals in Japan. It originates from Chinese chow mein, but has been integrated into Japanese cuisine like ramen. Even though soba is part of the word, yakisoba noodles are not made from buckwheat, but are similar to ramen noodles and made from wheat flour.

**Taiyaki **(鯛焼き, Taiyaki?) literally "baked sea bream," is a Japanese fish-shaped cake. The most common filling is red bean paste that is made from sweetened azuki beans. Other common fillings are custard, chocolate, and cheese. Some shops even sell taiyaki with okonomiyaki or a sausage inside.

**Oshiruko** - (hiragana: お汁粉), or shiruko (kanji: 汁粉; Chinese: 紅豆湯; pinyin: hóng dòu tāng) is a traditional Japanese dessert. It is an azuki bean soup with mochi, which is a Japanese rice cake, served in a bowl. There are different patterns to oshiruko, such as oshiruko with chestnuts, or with shiratamas instead of mochi. It is loved by many Japanese, especially during cold weather. The half-melted sticky rice cake and the sweet, warm red bean soup are thought by many to be an absolute delight.

**Caviar - **is the processed, salted roe ( Roe is fully ripe egg masses of fish and certain marine animals, such as sea urchins, shrimp and scallop.) of certain species of fish, most notably the sturgeon. It is commercially marketed worldwide as a delicacy and is principally eaten as either a garnish or a spread; for example, with hors d'oeuvres.

**Foie gras** **-**(French for "fat liver") is the liver of a duck or a goose that has been specially fattened.

**Fugu** - sliced poisonous pufferfish (sometimes lethal if not prepared correctly), a uniquely Japanese specialty.

**Shikasashi **- sliced deer meat, a rare delicacy in certain parts of Japan.

**Arigatou - **Japanese for "Thank You."


	9. Chapter 9

_Haunted, chapter 9_

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

But there was a dark, unstable, unpredictable side of Itachi that nobody would expect, the secret side of the narcissistic, smart, cold, power-hungry, calculating yet polite man. This side of him was dark, cruel, ruthless and inhuman. You never knew which side of his personality was going to take over. All you could do was hope that you didn't bring out the dark, cruel, monster inside of him. It was like flipping a coin and hoping you would get tails.

Sakura began to slowly realize the darker side of him after living with him for a couple months. The way he would act when she would ask him to go outside and play with her to when she'd ask him if he could pass her the salt at dinner. It went from a playful poke on the forehead and a nonchalant reply like "Not right now." or "Maybe later." to painful slap and reprimand. She became more careful about asking him for things. She speculated that he was just going through a stressful time. When she had first started living with him, he was home almost everyday, warm and welcoming, waiting for her after school. Then, in the later months, he was almost never home. Finally, all those events led to the first time Itachi violated her.

Sakura had always wondered why he tortured her. He wasn't a man you would expect to be a rapist. He was too emotionless, calculating and power hungry to care for sex or women. She was his rag doll, or punching bag, there for him to take out his anger on. It had to do with the hidden monstrous side of him.

A couple months after the first time he had violated her, Sakura had come home to find all her items packed and ready to go. He told her briefly that they were leaving Japan and to say her good byes since tomorrow would be their last day there. Sakura didn't even dare to ask him where they were going. Like a beaten dog that ran with its tail behind its legs and still followed its master, Sakura obeyed every one of Itachi's commands.

She packed some of the hidden items that Itachi didn't know about, old notes from friends, old pictures, etc. The nice clothes Itachi had shown her when she moved in were only to lure her into thinking that she was happy, safe and taken care of. Now he only gave her the nice clothes to wear when the social worker came around and for important social events. One of the hardest parts for her was leaving her friends behind without giving them a single reason why she was moving. Her friends were one of the few reasons that kept her going through Itachi's abuse. It ripped her apart not to tell them the truth. But she had to do it, for their safety since Itachi had threatened her, saying if she told anyone he would kill all of her friends. And she believed him. He would do it in a heartbeat to protect himself.

Another hard part for her was saying good-bye to her mother, Itachi had surprisingly driven her up to the city to visit her mother's grave before leaving. The only item she had left of her mother's was an old picture of her mother since her relatives had taken all of her mother's old clothes and jewelry and sold it. With out notice, she said goodbye to all she knew of and then left with Itachi. She never knew what happened to the old mansion that they used to live in.

The plane ride from Japan was painful and awkward for her. Her heart beat in anxiety, afraid that Itachi was going to inflict more of his pain, both mentally and physically, on her. Every moment she spent in that airplane seat next to Itachi in that business class cabin, her body was quaking in fear. Her eyes were wide and scared, like a deer in the limelight of a car's headlights.

But he did nothing, yet he kept her in anticipation, when they were alone his hand grazing her check, showing that he would easily slap her there and then.

She was too scared to even go to the bathroom. Everytime, the flight attendant came around, she was relieved. She never slept. How could she sleep when a monster was only a hair breadth away?

Her fear didn't go away, not even when they landed. She even turned down the hamburger Itachi had amazingly bought for her. Only when, in front of everybody, he whispered that he would force feed it to her if she did not comply in that icy voice of his, did she eat it.

She was convinced Itachi had moved to the United States to make her life even more miserable. And she was correct. The day before she entered the new school that she would be attending, he had brutally raped her against the kitchen counter top so that she could not walk for days. He had not allowed her to take a shower for a full week either, so she smelled ripe. He had not allowed her to eat for a week and a half, before letting her drink some milk that was expired, making her throw up and have diarrhea for sometime, and he did not allow her to use the bathroom, so that she would soil her clothes. He had pressed burning cigarette butts on her skin so that there would be strange, painful, circular burns on her skin, so she couldn't wear any clothes such as shorts or short sleeved t-shirts. He had forced her to wear ripped, old, worn, and stained clothes that were too big for her on her first day.

Sakura was tempted to skip her first day of school but Itachi would make her endure even more worst torture if she did. She stood bravely in front of her homeroom in her new school, in too big, ripped, old, stained and heavy clothes, while smelling ripe and while looking extremely sick and starved at the same time and said her name.

_"My name is Sakura Haruno. I just moved here from Japan." She said. There was a quiver in her voice. All of her new classmates stared at her, before bursting into pearls of laughter. _

On the first day, rumors were already circulating. Dirty, nasty, horrible rumors. The school had been anticipating her arrival for a couple of months and the rumors had already been spread around for some time.

_I heard she killed someone and went to reformatory._

_I heard she was like a prostitute or something. _

_I heard that she molested kids. _

She couldn't fit in with anyone. Not any clique, not cliques that were made up of poor, unpopular kids like her. They were afraid of her. She was different, and not in a good way. She was immediately a target for bullies and a punching bag for kids to take out their anger and frustration on.

Teachers didn't understand her. They felt pity for her and disliked her terrible hygiene, which wasn't her fault. But they did marvel at the fact of her brilliance, coming from such a poor, dirty, plain girl like Sakura.

Things were worse when she was placed in honors classes. Almost all the kids in honors were rich, pretty, preppy and looked like they were models from an Abercrombie and Fitch magazine or ad. They loathed her since she wasn't like them and jeered at her poor hygiene, clothes, her hair, or any flaw about her. They also hated her since she always had the highest grades and test scores in every single honors class.

She was the girl everyone could easily hate without any reason. Almost everyday, some girls or boys from mostly honors would corner her and pick on her. It went from lewd and mean comments to physically hurting her.

She also fit the right criteria of a victim: small, extremely skinny, helpless, and poor with a terrible reputation.

"_How the fuck did you get in honors, you little piece of shit? Go hang out with your own brood." A girl from honors sneered at her. "Oh, I forgot. You don't have a brood. No one likes you._

"_Look at these pathetic hooters. Get some real boobs, bitch." A guy in her math class said, squeezing her left breast hard. _

_  
She was getting dizzy from the strong smell of his musky cologne, his sweat, and the smell of pot on his shirt. He was one of the most popular guys in her school. She was extremely afraid now since he was wasted. Only god knows what he could do. _

_She closed her eyes. It would be over soon, she hoped. He was getting closer to and closer to her. There was an ugly expression on his usually handsome face. He slapped her hard across the face, Sakura gingerly touched her cheek. It was tender and she tasted blood in her mouth. _

They were so-called assets to the society, teachers loved them, and they seemed perfect, problem free and were good looking, rich, intelligent and popular and did community service or some kind of extra curriculum activity for the school such as varsity lacrosse. But Sakura knew the truth. They had problems, behind their phony personalities; they had some extremely dark secrets.

They seemed nice to you in front of teachers, but the minute the teachers left, they showed their true ugly selves to Sakura. Selfish, mean, and spiteful with razor sharp tongues, that could easily insult you to tears in seconds. And they hated the fact that Sakura knew they weren't perfect, but were content with the fact they were richer and better looking than her, that they were better than her.

Sakura couldn't ever get them in trouble. Every time she told on them, the teachers, guidance counselor, and even the principal refused to believe they did it. The school was bribed every year with donated money from their parents, to keep them out of trouble and to cover up scandals.

It was useless trying to get them in trouble or trying to get them to stop. Sakura tried, begging them to stop. But it was hopeless, that just encouraged them to do even more.

Even when the rougher kids beat her up for being in honors, the teachers always assumed she had done something that had caused the fight, so they always got off the hook too.

Sakura couldn't get Itachi in trouble either. Teachers always assumed her bruises and injuries were from squabbles with kids in her neighborhood and avoided filing suspected abuse reports. She couldn't tell her guidance counselor, since her guidance counselor believed she was a problematic child. But it was mostly because none of her teachers and her guidance counselor would never ever believe it, because they had met Itachi before at student teacher meetings and some other important events at school. They hadn't met him too many times, but to them he seemed like the ideal man, gentlemanly, charming, good looking, polite, caring and smart. He looked professional, since he always wore a black suit when he went to Sakura's school. They pitied him for looking after such a troublesome child.

And even if they believed her, Itachi would squeeze out of the situation somehow. He always managed to slither out of any messy situation unscathed.

Itachi had completed his task of making sure her school and social life was hell too.

School wasn't a sanctuary for her. But she preferred it over the hell she was forced to call "home." She'd rather go to school for the entire summer than encounter Itachi again. But school life was tough too. She had endured both Itachi and school for some time. But everybody has a breaking point. And she was sorely convinced her breaking point wasn't too far away and it wouldn't be pretty unless someone saved her.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes, bringing her back to the present. She hadn't pondered over her past for an extremely long time. She didn't want to remember, she wanted to hope that things would get better. Maybe things were, since Gaara had come along. But what if he believed what people said about her, and stayed away from her because of her leper status?

No, he wouldn't. He was friends with Naruto; if he was like that there was no way he would be friends with Naruto. Naruto hated people who were back-stabbers. His trust was easy and at the same time hard to gain.

But would he hate her if he knew who she really was or what she had been through? Would he look at her in disgust and walk away?

She wouldn't take a chance. He doesn't need to know. She wanted to cling to the small shard of hope that he'd brought into her pathetic life.

* * *

Gaara slowly massaged his temples. He had a major headache, mostly because of that girl. She intrigued him and he somehow understood her, but at the same time she confused him. He poured himself a cup of the fresh Folgers coffee he had just made. It tasted like crap, the terrible taste of burnt coffee crystals and hot water made his headache even worse.

He would have preferred his favorite food: Salted tongue and gizzard. One of the few things of his old, sadistic, and cruel personality that still remained, that even rehab could not get rid of. But he liked salted tongue and gizzard now simply because it was a delicacy, to him at least. Temari and Kankuro cringed and grimaced every time he ordered it at a restaurant. "Yuck. How do you eat that stuff, Gaara?" Temari would ask him every time.

It had a unique taste that he could never get in any other food, not even liver pate, and it calmed his frazzled nerves.

But unfortunately, there was no Salted tongue and gizzard in his new refrigerator and he doubted that the nearest supermarket or grocery store would supply it. Maybe, if he was lucky, a ritzy restaurant might have it on the menu.

He made a mental note to himself to check out every restaurant in the area to see if they had it.

_Enough about salted tongue and gizzard._ He was currently feeling guilty about letting Sakura go home alone. She had such a sad and afraid look on her face when she was walking home. The color drained out of her face when the bell rang. He should have trusted his gut instinct that was telling him something was wrong.

What if she got hurt? Or mugged? Or robbed? Or raped?

It would be his fault just because he didn't walk her home. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty if something did happen to her.

_Dah-deee-dae-dai_. It was his cell phone.

The cheerful ring tone of his phone awoke him from his thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Gaara, is that you? How have you been little brother? Are you coping well without us?" A familiar voice drawled from the phone.

It was Kankuro.

"I'm just fine."

"Kankuro, Gimme the phone! I want to talk to him." Gaara heard an impatient female snap. It was his sister, Temari.

"Temari wants to talk to you." Gaara heard before a great buzz of static was on the line.

Finally, "Gaara, are you there? How are you? Are you getting enough to eat? Is everything alright? How was your first day of school? Did you make any friends, did you get in trouble? Did you get picked on?" A tired voice cried into the phone.

If he wasn't so passive, Gaara would have chuckled. You would rarely see Temari in her overly-protective sister mode, only if she was extremely frazzled. He was betting the hot tempered blonde girl was currently steaming with anger from her ears.

"I'm doing well. My first day of school was OK."

"You are omitting the details. Certainly it was more than OK." Kankuro remarked.

"Seriously, Gaara. Tell us." Temari begged.

Gaara hesitated for a minute. What could be the harm in telling them?

And so he did tell them omitting some detail, like how he helped Sakura when she was injured.

"That principle sounds like a total bitch! Why that…" Temari said, calling the principle every curse word that was in the book.

"Calm down, Temari. It wasn't that bad." Gaara said, trying to reassure his frantic sister.

"Well, what do you except her to do? We're worried about you, living in a strange town by yourself. Why don't you come and live with us in New York. It isn't bad. I'm sure you'd like to live here." Kankuro yelled into the phone angrily.

"No." was Gaara's firm answer. He didn't particularly like Michigan but there was something that intrigued him enough to stay… it was that girl… Haruno. But he didn't dare tell that to Temari or Kankuro. If they knew, they would never let him live it down.

"I'm fine here. I'll come and visit you next weekend. I'm capable of living by myself." He said monotonously, while randomly picking at some lint on the couch.

There was silence.

"If that's your decision, we support you all the way. But at least try to keep in touch with us, at least every day." Temari said finally.

"We miss you." Kankuro added in.

"I miss the both of you." Gaara said, awkwardly. He was still new to the whole process of expressing his feelings. But it wasn't unpleasant. He wanted to change from his old ways. He wanted people to respect and like him for who he was.

"Bye."

"Bye. You better call us tomorrow!"

Click. Then there was the dial tone. Gaara ended the call.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura began to do her AP College math homework. It only took her a couple of minutes. Same with her biology homework, British literature, and World History homework, it didn't take too long. She was extremely smart, academically. It was guaranteed that she would get into a good college. But she doubted Itachi would let her go off to college. He wouldn't let go of her so easily.

Sakura believed he loved torturing her more than anything else in this world. He had nothing else to squeeze pleasure from.

She hated him. He had caused her so much pain and agony

Yet, at the same time she loved him. He had showed her friendship, warmth, and care at a crucial time when no one else bothered to.

How was it possible to love and hate a person at the same time? Wasn't there a fine line between love and hate?

Sakura's head was spinning. She was so tired of everything and everyone. _No one will ever love me. I'm dirty. I'm pathetic. I deserve this. That is why no one is helping me. _

The sweet blade was calling to her. She couldn't resist.

Sakura slowly got up from the creaky cot and headed towards her closet. Deep in her closet, she retrieved a sharp knife that was hidden in the back part of the closet.

It was glinting in the shard of light that was being reflected from her window. She had wanted to stop cutting a long time. But it was so hard. It saved her from the madness. She couldn't resist the damned blade. Cutting was a sweet release for her.

She closed her eyes. With a trembling hand, she held the blade above an old scab located on her forearm which was from an old cut. It was her favorite spot. She carefully laid the knife on the bed. Slowly, with shaking fingers, she gingerly touched her wrist. Her skin was warm and she could feel a pulse.

Again, she picked up the knife but held the cutting edge this time against a superficial vein in her wrist.

Why not end it all? Stop all the screaming in her head and the horrible hurt. No more fighting against her demons. There was nothing to live for. Do the deed. _Who would care?_

She raised the blade, ready to attempt the ultimate act…

* * *

**End of chapter a/n: Long time, no see. I'm extremely sorry about the late update. I was extremely busy over the course of the past few months. Since the school year is almost over, I've had many tests and essays to submit. But for now, I've turned in everything that is important. So, I will be able to focus on my stories. Some people have been sending me some nasty e-mails and PMs about not updating. I go to school and also have a job and a life so please consider that. **

**Also, I've come up with some future ideas for Haunted. They are err… kind of graphic/kinky/wrong or whatever you want to call it. So, be warned. More than likely it's going to be very hardcore. So, be aware. Since, I've already started writing chapter 10 (It's already over 14 pages! I'm aiming for 23 pages.) I would say, that the real hardcore stuff will start coming by chapter 13. **

**And a big Thank you to my new BETA reader, Jenza-Reduz! I couldn't have done without him. He spent precious time editing and reading my terrible grammar, perfecting this chapter.**

**Also, I really want to add another character to this story, my favorite bastard out of them all, Sai! But I really want to know if that's okay with you guys. Sai, if introduced will not play a major nor minor role in Haunted. There won't be too much Sai x Sakura fluffiness. So, please let me know in your reviews! We'll take a vote. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Haunted, Chapter 10**

**-----------**

She raised the blade, ready to attempt the ultimate act. She had no regrets. She ran the blade across her wrist, efficiently slicing the skin, waiting for the blood to sleep through. Waiting to die. She frowned. There was something wrong. Then she realized. The blade was too dull to make such a deep incision enough to kill her. There was only a small graze on the vein. It was seeping blood. Not deep enough to kill, but it was deep enough for her liking.

She sighed. Maybe it was a sign that she just shouldn't give up yet. Maybe another day.

She watched the luscious crimson fall and trickle unto a spare white piece of paper.

* * *

_Shit._

Gaara bolted upright from bed, immediately awake from his deep slumber, his green eyes wide and alert. He was breathing heavily. His hair was plastered to his sweaty forehead. Sweat was dripping from his chin.

Aa. He was clutching his chest. It was only a dream. But it seemed to be so real…

It was that Haruno girl in his dream. She was screaming, bloody, wounded, half-dead. She was reaching towards him and she was mouthing the words:

_Save me_.

Someone was hurting her. There was maniacal laughter.

Then he finally saw who the attacker was. It was himself. His old, twisted self. His eyes were glazed over with blood lust, his hands were stained with blood, and a terrible grin was on his face. The monster he had been.

He watched in horror, as he wrapped his hand around the fragile girl's neck and easily snapped it. One last desperate scream was heard from her before she became limp and her eyes rolled over.

There was maniacal laughter and a horrible scream from him. It was inhuman and sounded evil.

He turned to stare at Gaara. No matter what you do, I am still here. I am still you. You can never defeat me. No one will ever love you. You will always be alone. You are only capable of loving yourself. You are weak.

He grinned. "You are next to die."

He reached forward and –

Gaara didn't know what happened beyond that point since he had woken up. And he didn't want to know. He took three deep breaths. He glanced around. There was no body except him. The room was dark. He turned on the lamp on his bedside table and got up to take an aspirin. His hands were shaking as he filled a cup full of tap water. _Gulp._ He drank the water and swallowed the aspirin.

He grabbed the nearest chair and collapsed on it. He ran a hand through his unruly red hair_. It's just a dream. Dreams aren't real. Dreams don't come true. I am not the monster anymore that I use to be. I am someone different. That was the past. I am not a monster anymore. I have gotten over my past. _

The why was his stomach coiling in worry? Why were his palms sweaty? Why was there that familiar lump he could never swallow in his throat?

He couldn't forget. No matter how many times he told himself not to dwell on the past.

_I will let go no matter what. I will move on. _He told himself determinedly. _I have come so far and I will not go back. I will let go no matter what. I will move on. _He chanted it repeatedly in his mind like a sacred mantra.

_I will fight my demons and stay strong._

Soon, his neck muscles became slack and he closed his eyes.

* * *

It was 6am, a small shard of sunlight shone through her window. Sakura slowly opened her eyes and then squinted at the brightness. It was taking her brain some time to process the fact that it was indeed morning, a dawn of a new day.

The neighbors were already screaming.

"Why, you dirty whore! Two-timing on me, where you? Drag your filthy ass and get out of this house and never come back!"

She groaned. _They never shut up. _

She trudged towards the small bathroom. The mirror was cracked but she could clearly see she looked terrible. Her skin was so translucent, you could see her veins. Her eyes were bloodshot red and there were dark rings under her eyes. Her lips were crusty with dry blood and cuts.

The sight didn't faze her. She knew she looked terrible. She couldn't change her appearance and who would really care about how she looked?

She stripped of her clothes and reached to turn on the shower knob.

She waited for the warm water run down on her body. Nothing came out

Then she apprehended what had happened_. That bastard disconnected the water supply!_ She fumed.

It was a sign to show here that even though he wasn't here, he still could make her life miserable. As if she didn't already know that.

She turned the knob to cold water. Nothing came out. Slowly, a small trickle of water came out of the shower head. It was ice-cold, but it was better than going to school smelly and dirty.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Birds were chirping, as a sleepy red hair boy slowly awoke. Gaara yawned and stretched his arms. He frowned after he discovered that he had fallen asleep on a chair. His body was sore all over. _What a rough night. _

He hadn't had such a disturbing dream in months. After rehab and with the support and friendship that Naruto and his siblings had provided, he had been perfectly calm with no breakdowns and bad dreams.

The dream really had him off kilter. Not to mention the fact, that he didn't dream. Before, he could never sleep. He slowly learned how to sleep during his session in Rehab. But he had many nightmares.

Now, he usually slept a dreamless sleep.

He had control over his emotions now and wasn't a ranging crazy sociopath monster anymore. He believed before the reason for his existence was killing people. But now, he knew that wasn't true. He hadn't found his reason for living yet, but he was searching. That's why he was here.

He was a different person from before. He could feel now, something he couldn't do before. But he hadn't entirely grasped the concept of feeling emotions. He was still learning.

That Haruno girl was causing him to feel new emotions, he had never ever felt. She gave off a sense of Deja vu. She was gotten him involved in some very troublesome situations. He didn't like her very much and found her annoying but there was just something else about her that made her that he couldn't really describe. She looked like a lost puppy.

Besides, she was the only person that he really knew in this new strange place. Everyone else mostly not worth knowing and were useless people that judged him by his looks without not even trying to know him.

…She was his first _friend_ here, in some sense, you could say.

He took a quick shower and got dressed. After, slightly toasting a piece of bread and thinly spreading some jam on it, Gaara devoured his small breakfast. This was nothing compared to the breakfast, Temari would make him and Kankuro in the morning.

"GET YOUR ASSES OUT OF BED. IT'S TIME FOR BREAKFAST!" Temari would holler. She would make a feast fit for kings during breakfast; she would cook an abundant amount of sausages, eggs, omelettes, and bacon. Toast, cereal, and pastries would be hot and ready to be eaten on the table. Only, god knew how she made some much damn food in so little time.

The hot-tempered blonde would get extremely angry if you denied her food or didn't eat too much. That didn't work well, since Gaara wasn't always a big fan of breakfast. "YOU DON'T LIKE MY COOKING, DO YOU? THEN MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN FOOD. I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY." She would ramble and then hit him or Kankuro on the head with a pan.

No matter, how many times he would claim that he wasn't hungry. Temari would pile more food on his plate. "Nonsense. You are a growing boy! You need energy and you're suppose to be hungry all the time, damn it. I'm not making you food all the time. You better eat up." She would say, glaring at him, her eyes formed into small slits.

Sometimes, his older sister really _scared_ him.

He could still smell those sausages sizzling in the pan. His stomach rumbled loudly. He couldn't admit but he dearly _missed_ his _sister_… and _her cooking_.

Gaara walked out of his apartment, scowling at the fact that he actually admitted he missed his sister. He grumpily walked through wet grass and towards the giant looming building that was his high school.

At that moment, he really wasn't caring which unfortunate person's lawn he had just ruined.

* * *

A small fragile pink-haired teen was cautiously walking through a dark alley, careful to wake anyone or anything up. Her eyes darted back and forth nervously. Her right arm was hovering protectively over her backpack.

Sakura was currently walking through on of the most dangerous alleys in the area. The alley was one of the most dangerous areas to be in or near in her town. It was always was buzzing with drug dealers, illegal and underground black market sales, pimps, gangs and all sorts of bad people. The alley was busy today, but not too busy. She was currently inconspicuous to everyone around her and she wanted it to stay that way.

She heard laughter, cries of joy and cries of pain and she saw tears and people being hurt all around her. She wanted to squeeze her eyes shut and not see the injustice around her. These things were a normal sight around here. She couldn't help any of them, she was just as helpless. If she attempted to help them that would just result with her getting hurt or killed. It was survival of the fittest around her. She had to be extremely careful, since she was treading in dangerous territory. She could easily be mugged, killed, raped or be kidnapped and sold as a so-called "Exotic Treasure" in the black mart or be sold to a pimp to be a prostitute.

"Little lady! Wanna some pot to smoke? I guarantee it will be a pleasurable experience, you'll be in your own world…" A drug dealer called to her, an evil grin plastered on his face, while completing a deal with another customer.

Sakura winced. Great, she was noticed. Soon, everyone in the alley was staring at her. Business men buying prostitutes, drugs, and illegal porn, junkies, sellers, gang members, and all sorts of people, their eyes were focused on her.

She let out an anxious squeak. She started backing out of the alley. Gang members frowned, giving her wary looks, thinking she was a spy for the police. A discreet chatter came over the crowd.

Sakura turned to run.

_Better get out of here before it's too late. _

Suddenly, there were seven shadows around her.

"Too late."

She was surrounded.

The voice came from a young determined looking man with muscles. His biceps were bigger than the size of Sakura's head. He was Mexican and was ugly with droopy black eyes set in a square tan face, a large mouth, and a nose protruded out too far in the air. Gold was dripping off him. His hair was black, of medium length and greasy. He had a large build. He emitted a horrible stench of rotten animal meat. An ugly smirk was on his face, all of his teeth were gold. He was obviously a pimp.

A bunch of his friends, rail thin, looking starved and Mexican, encircled her.

It was going to be hard to escape now. Sakura's mind was processing every possible escape route now. There was none, each one was blocked.

"What do you know? What is such a pretty girl doing in this place?" He asked Sakura, surveying her up and down. His voice held a thick accent.

He didn't wait for answer. "You really are beauty. You would make an excellent add to our selection. One hot piece of tight pussy." He started twirling a thick gold chain that was nestled in his hairy chest.

_Do not talk to attacker_, she told herself. She gulped.

"It seems like you don't like to talk. But that's okay. Since, soon, I'll be fucking you like there's no tomorrow and you'll be screaming my name. Tell me, are you still cherry? Because I love virgins. They are so fucking tight. But don't worry, I like sluts too. As long as I get fucked and you make me good money." He drawled.

He sauntered up to Sakura and reached to –

_Now._

She reached for empty glass beer bottle that was rolling near her…

_CRASH. _

She smashed it on his head.

The bottle broke into two halves over his head.

He was dumbfounded. He touched his forehead to confirm there was blood.

His friends were frozen, waiting for his orders.

His face twisted into an ugly expression. "¡Asga esa ramera!" He barked to his friends.

But it was too late. Sakura sprang into action. She grabbed one of the halves of the broken beer bottle and flung it at one of his friends that was blocking the exit of the alley. He recoiled in shock and Sakura fled out of the alley.

Once she was safe, she stopped to catch her breath. _Aah._ She huffed and puffed, her knobby knees were shaking and her pulse was skyrocketing. A bought of tiredness came over her body. She wiped the sheen of perspiration of her forehead. She had probably used three days worth of calories just to run away from them. She didn't have the strength to run anymore.

She suddenly winced. A small amount of blood dripped through the sleeve of the dirty loose white shirt she wore. The cut from last night had opened while she was running. Half of the scabs on her arm opened, oozing a small amount of pus. She would have to be more careful or Itachi would get suspicious. This meant she would not be able to cut her self tonight.

Her legs felt heavy, as she walked forward, placing one foot in front of the other in an endless repeating pattern.

She let out a shaky breath. She didn't know how she'd go without cutting herself tonight. It was an addiction. Everyone day, she felt like she drowning more and more and couldn't breathe. Everything was just too much. Cutting was one of the few only things that kept her head above the water.

Thirty minutes passed by slowly, as Sakura's stomach churned in worry.

She had no clue, how she would resist the call of the blade tonight.

At least, she was near school. The large brick building was only a block away.

She entered the school campus and read the school motto or statement:

_**We take pride in dedicating and providing students a safe, bully-free, caring environment to work and to communicate together to develop each student's individual unique talents and skills. **_

_My ass. What a load of bullshit_, Sakura thought darkly. She was early today and would have to go stand outside in the campus until the bell rang. The campus was large and green full of trees and flowers and was overcrowded with students, all separated in their own cliques. She strolled through the school's grass and landscape to rear end of the school's campus. Her gaze was low and focused ahead, ignoring the loud noisy jeers, laughter, and chattering around her.

She stopped once she reached a large leafy gnarled oak tree, the largest one on the campus. It was far away from everyone else and was in an area where it was peaceful and quiet. The tree kept her cool from the bright hot sunlight. She always came here whenever she was early.

She fondly stroked the rough trunk of the tree and sat down, basking the shade.

"May I join you?" A voice asked her.

Sakura spun around and then relaxed. It was that boy from yesterday, Gaara. He looked tired and grumpy, with dark circles under his kohl-lined eyes. His green eyes were scowling and there was his usual stoic expression on his face. He was still wearing beige colored jacket with a white wife beater underneath and skinny black denim blasted jeans, with black combat boots.

"Sure." She said dully, as Gaara sat near the other side of the tree.

"… It's peaceful here, isn't it?" he questioned her.

"Yeah. I guess so." Sakura picked at a blade of grass. She wasn't really used to talking to people. She had lost her ability to be social a long time ago.

There was an awkward silence between the two since both did not know how to communicate.

Sakura quietly took out a small tattered copy of _Wuthering Heights _and began to read, while Gaara sat still and stared at the nature around them. The wind gently ruffled his red hair. But both knew that they were just waiting for the bell to ring to free them from this odd silence.

* * *

A scowling red-headed boy listened to the useless chatter of his fellow classmates. He had a headache. _… Are they ever quiet?_

Gaara had picked a seat in the front that was slightly away from the chatter, but not far enough. He massaged his temples.

Books were all over the place, desks were messy, kids were screaming and his homeroom teacher, Hatake Kakashi was engrossed in his porn, ignoring his surroundings. He wondered how the world could that man read_ porn_ in the midst of such noise. And didn't feel at all a little dirty reading porn in a _school_? He shook his head in disbelief.

_This is an odd school_, he decided.

CLANG! BOOM!

There was a scream.

Gaara's jaw twitched at the sound of the noise.

It got even louder.

Gaara stood up from the desk and went over to the source of the noise. It was crowded with people. He pushed his way through. A boy with a black Mohawk was howling with laughter as he was stomping on a pair of glasses. Sakura was on her hands and knees, restrained by two buff looking girls. She was crying and looking in horror at her glasses. "Please give back my glasses." She pleaded Mohawk boy. "I didn't do anything wrong to you."

"Shut up, bitch! I'm doing you a favor." He drawled as he smashed her glasses into tiny pieces.

"Please give back my glasses!" She repeated, her lower lip quivering.

Mohawk boy's face turned a deep purple. "Didn't I tell you to be quiet, you stupid ho?" He yelled at her. He stepped forward to her, his fist ready –

"Stop." Gaara heard himself say calmly, his hand stopping Mohawk boy's fist from connecting to Sakura's face.

"You've done enough damage. What did she ever do to you?" He asked Mohawk.

Mohawk boy sneered at him. "Why do you care? Stay out of this man." He struggled to remove his fist from Gaara's grasp.

He only made his hold tighter around Mohawk boy's fist. He was starting to get angry. He felt his old ugly self retreating from the deepest part of his heart. He was feeling the old familiar negative emotions of anger, hate and bloodlust.

Mohawk boy made a face. "Ouch!" He hissed. "You little muthafucker, I'm going to punch out your lights." He curled his free hand into a fist and –

But at the speed of lightening, Gaara quickly grasped his other hand.

"You will lose if you attempt to fight me. You are weak." Gaara continued to say. "It will hurt. Now, leave the girl alone before I hurt you." He made his grip even tighter on Mohawk boy's fist.

"That's enough." A lazy voice drawled.

Everyone's heads whipped around. It was Kakashi. He had actually stopped reading his porn for once. The mask he wore covered his expression and his band like usual was tilted and covered his left eye. His right eye that was visible seemed serious.

"Gaara, let go of James. James, you will go straight to the principle's office. Everyone else except Sakura and Gaara will stay after the bell to clean up this mess." He instructed.

Gaara slowly released his grip on Mohawk boy's fist.

Kakashi surveyed Mohawk boy with a distasteful look. "James, you may leave now. You will have two weeks of detention and you will pay for Sakura's new glasses. The principle will give you further punishments."

Mohawk boy scowled and shoved his hands into baggy jean's pockets and stormed out of the classroom. Gaara stared blankly at Kakashi. The man was actually useful, when he _wasn't_ reading porn the all time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kakashi ignored him and slowly made his way over to Sakura. He bent down to her height and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. "Are you OK, Sakura?" He asked her. There was no reply.

"I…am…fine." She said slowly.

" I am sorry this happened." He told her softly, while ruffling her pink hair, not caring it was dirty.

But he knew inside, that she really wasn't okay. But this was the least he could do.

The bell rang. She stood up and walked away from him

He knew he should go after her, but he didn't. Besides, he wasn't an expert on dealing with teenage girls.

* * *

For once, the carefree-looking man was actually angry. Kakashi's visible eye was practically blazing. "IF THAT EVER HAPPENS AGAIN, LET ME ASSURE EVERY EACH AND ONE OF YOU THAT I'LL HAVE ALL OF YOUR ASSES! NOW GET TO WORK AND CLEAN UP THIS MESS!" He barked.

Everyone in the class was actually afraid of the man, frozen and quivering with fear.

But then he ruined the moment. "Geez. I lost my page in Icha-Icha paradise! You guys, really…" He rambled on, before whipping out the porn he was reading earlier, frantically flipping pages in the book.

Gaara rolled his eyes. _At least he's better than some of those other idiot teachers. _

He turned to exit the classroom.

"Gaara, come here for a second." Kakashi suddenly called out.

He walked over to the man's desk. Kakashi was looking at him lazily.

"I appreciate you trying to stop that boy from bullying Sakura." He started to say, while toying with a random rubber band that was lying around.

"But you should really leave these situations to me. Next time, when sometime like this happens, please alert a teacher immediately and let them take care of it." He said seriously.

Gaara allowed himself to smile. "Do I really look like the type who would run to a teacher every time something happens? I'm more than capable of handling these kinds of situations."

_That should shut him up._

With that, Gaara cockily sauntered out of the classroom with a triumphant smirk plastered on his stoic face.

* * *

The classroom was silent, the only sound were pencils frantically scratching against paper.

Sakura yawned and then quickly covered her mouth. The incident in homeroom had been humiliating. With Gaara, saving her ass and Kakashi who actually looked up from his porn, and stopped both Mohawk boy and Gaara from tearing each other to shreds only added more attention to the incident. It was this morning buzz.

She hated being the center of the attention. It only made people pummel her even more.

She had finished taking the pop quiz on _Hamlet, _the English teacher decided to give them as a "surprise".

Suddenly, she felt something hard bonk off her head. It was a note crumpled up, meant for her. She hesitantly picked it up.

**Are you fucking Mr. Kakashi? **

It read boldly with large letters. Suddenly, out of the blue, a bunch of guys and girls began to giggle.

Sakura's heart sank. She couldn't believe people actually thought this. The man was fourteen years older than her. It would be a conspiracy. Certainly, Kakashi was a good looking man for his age but Sakura wasn't interested in him or anyone else in that way. It just wasn't possible for her to love someone in that way. Itachi had made it impossible for her to be able to love someone in that way. He had broken her heart into tiny pieces.

She and Mr. Kakashi were just acquaintances, he was her teacher and he was her student. He was her favorite teacher and sometimes they would exchange some casual conversation. But nothing more than that. The rumor had probably blossomed after the incident that happened this morning. It would be extremely hard to stop it with the fact that no one would believe her.

_Bonk. _Another note was thrown square at her head. She ignored it but when she felt a sharp poke from the person sitting behind her, she picked it up.

TELL THE TRUTH. WE KNOW IF UR LYING.

_Bonk. Bonk. _

Multiple notes began to hit Sakura.

**Did you sleep with the new guy, too? **

**Did you guys have a threesome?**

This was turning into a nightmare. She began to feel dizzy. She already had enough problems besides this. She felt bile rising in her throat. Her classmates were secretly taking pictures of her with their camera cell phones.

_Breathe. This isn't that bad. I'm not physically getting beat up. _

"Sakura, please come to the front."

She gulped. It was the English teacher. Sakura could never quite remember what her name was anyways. She was an unfriendly, sneering woman whom she never really liked. She had ivory pale skin and sharp features. Her long raven hair was pulled back tightly in a complicated bun. In, a way she was beautiful with a voluptuous body, but the fact that she was scowling all the time made her look ugly. She always wore clothes that were too elaborate for her job. Today, she donned a white Dior shirt and a short black Marc Jacobs pencil skirt that was so short, it probably violated the school dress code with a white Hermes scarf looped through the belt holes.

"Now, would you care to give me a good reason for why you where disrupting the class?" She asked Sakura dryly. Her black bottomless eyes were glaring back at Sakura.

Sakura took a deep breath. "Ah. U-uh, I w-wasn't d-disrupting the c-class…" She managed to stutter out, while nervously fumbling with her long dirty, sweaty fingers.

"Don't lie. I saw everything. You, Haruno, were responsible for those girls and boys who were distracted from their quiz!" She hissed.

"I saw you. Now, I want you to tell me what you did." She continued to say with pursed lips.

_She's pissed. Now what should I do? _

Sakura decided to tell me the truth. She bit her cracked lip in anxiety.

"I didn't do anything, honestly. Someone just threw some notes at me and –"

Her coal eyes narrowed. Obviously she didn't believe Sakura.

"Give me the notes." She demanded. Her long blood-red nails were outreached in front of Sakura looking more like dangerous talons ready to strike.

"O-ok." Sakura quickly grabbed the crumpled notes and dropped them into the teacher's hand.

Her eyes narrowed into slits as she read the papers. All was silent except the clock's ticking.

_Tick-tock_

"Leave now." She finally said.

"…" Sakura quickly grabbed her items and fled the class.

* * *

After, she was sure the girl had left, she revealed her true emotions. Her dark eyes blazed with anger and her crimson lips were curled into a feral snarl making her look like a beast. She yanked her luscious hair out the tight bun it was in and, let it softly tumble down her back in wisps and curls. With her sharp nails, she ripped the crumbled pieces of paper into shreds. The feelings of envy, wrath and pride were coursing through her body. She was so angry; her blood felt like it was on fire

_How dare that girl! Really, the nerve of her_, she thought. After, so many years of lusting after Kakashi and his well-built body, she didn't deserve this. How could he have chosen that ugly under-developed girl over her? What was so special about that girl, anyways?

She must have secretly seduced him. There was no way her Kakashi would have gone after such a girl.

_But how did she do it? _

Now, she had everything. A beautiful body, money, and a great personality. Unlike, before, where she had nothing. She had been an ugly, miserable, ugly, fat, poor woman. But now, things had changed. She had changed everything about herself to win over Kakashi.

Every time, she had tried to win him over or tried to seduce him, or tried to drop him hints, he would reject her. Over and over again. No matter, what she did.

She had sacrificed for him. Her job as a fashion executive and became a teacher just to be near him. She hated children. They were sniveling, stupid, useless, clingy brats.

Why did he still not love her? Why did he push her away?

He was what she lived for. Her reason for existence.

She became perfect for him. Was that not enough?

Or was she still the same?

She felt sick. She rushed to the bathroom and held on the toilet for dear life as she emptied her stomach.

What was wrong with her?

Angry tears poured down her face in frustration and soaked her blouse.

Why was he so cruel to her?

She looked into mirror and saw a pathetic excuse for a woman what she was. She was still pathetic and useless. No wonder Kakashi didn't want her.

She was still a size 2, too fat for Kakashi. She would have to lose more weight for him. _Just a little more. _The waistband of her skirt was too big for her and spun around her waist.

She stuck a finger down her throat and made everything come back out.

This was that girl's fault. She was the reason why she was suffering. She was probably in his arms, kissing him and laughing at her.

_In his arms…_

She clenched her fists. She was going to make that girl suffer. She was going to make her wish that she was die after she was finished with her. Her screams of mercy and pain and forgiveness was what she needed to quench the anger in her.

A victory scream escaped her lips. It sounded inhuman and high pitched as it echoed through the halls of the school.

Lust. Anger. Envy. Wrath. Pride. Gluttony. Greed

Humans will never escape these demons.

For these, were the seven deadly sins that caused the great angel Lucifer to fall and become the king of the eternally damned.

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Gaara was surrounded by a bunch of noisy girls and boys. Paper airplanes flew across the classroom.

The teacher had left them all alone after a mysterious phone call.

He glanced at the clock, his kohl-rimmed green eyes squinting.

_10… 9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…0_

_**RING!**_

Class was finally over.

He quickly exited the classroom and walked to his next class, advanced AP world history.

"Gaara, there's a seat here open!" A girl with blond pigtails squealed loudly, motioning to the empty seat on her right.

He ignored her and sat down in a seat in the very back of the class.

But what he wasn't expecting to be surrounded with a huge cluster of some very curious students.

"Where are you from?"

"Why did you move here?"

"Sit with us at lunch, Gaara-kun!"

"Why are you wearing weird clothes?

"Can you speak Japanese?

"Do you have any siblings?

"Can you write Japanese?"

Many inquires were screamed and shouted by many curious students ranging from obsessive future fan girls to hefty Abercrombie football jocks.

Gaara sighed as one girl screamed her question in his ear. It was taking all of his energy to keep himself from strangling each and every one of them.

"I'm from Japan. Why do care about the reason why I moved here? No, I'm not going to sit next to you at lunch. I have two siblings. Yes, I can write Japanese. Does that answer all of your questions?" He managed to say all at once, calmly and coolly.

His green eyes were fixed on the black dusty chalkboard in front.

_Where the hell is the teacher?_

Twenty minutes later, the teacher entered the class.

"Turn to page 433. We'll be reading about World War II and Hitler." Mr. Genma said, glaring at the class while chewing on a toothpick.

Oh boy, this was going to be one fun class.

* * *

A boy sat alone on a bench in the beautiful park. It was a beautiful sunny autumn day. The trees were colorful, full of crimson and fire orange leaves. Fallen autumn leaves ranging from a various reddish hues to a dark mahogany were scattered all over the park. The nearby fountain of sculptured marble with a roman theme gushed water. There were rolling hills and green grass. The bushes were shaped and cut into elaborate shapes, patterns and spirals. Full-bloom flower gardens surrounded the park. A sweet smell filled the air.

The boy added to the park's beauty. He had handsome with lovely ivory colored skin that was the right shade and chiseled features. He had high cheekbones, broad shoulders and was tall with a slim build. His black hair was tousled, kissed by the sunlight and of medium length.

But there was something that ruined his beauty, the emotionless look on his face. His face looked like it had never formed or showed any kind of emotion. His eyes were equally emotionless. His eyes were the color of coal and blank, black holes that seemed to go on forever.

His legs were spread open and he was hunched over. His slim elbows hung over his knees. He seemed to be a thinking position.

His outfit matched the color of his eyes, black as night and was peculiar. He wore a black shirt zipped all the way with a Chinese collar. One sleeve was long and reached his wrist while the other was short and stopped before the upper-arm. The shirt barely covered his stomach, showing his taunt stomach muscles and shaped abs. On his elegant hands, he wore black gloves. His pants were black and stopped at mid calf length.

A kantana was strapped to his back. He looked more like a professional assassin that a 17-year-old boy.

The wind ruffled his hair as leaves blew around him.

He closed his eyes. He needed inspiration for a new painting. He was tired of painting the same old things. He was in a new place on a new mission. The beautiful park wasn't up to his liking.

"Sai-sama."

The boy immediately opened his eyes.

"…Yes?" He acknowledged the speaker.

"It is time to leave. Danzo-sama requests you to start your mission now."

"…To that high school?"

"Hai."

"Let's go, then."

The boy stood up from the bench and started to follow the man out of the park.

It was time to get to work and leave paradise.

* * *

"Did you how hot he looked in that shirt today?"

"Oh my god, it was so tight, you could see the outline of his pecs."

"He looked delicious. Too bad he isn't single. I would jump him in a second if he wasn't taken."

Lockers slamming and the merry chatter of girls filled the dark damp room.

Sakura was currently in the girls' locker room, changing up for gym in the bathroom.

She was silently, slipping off her baggy black pants for another pair baggy pair of black pants. Itachi had been hesitant to give her gym clothes, but the school required students to bring separate clothing for gym.

Shirts and pants were carelessly flung all over the place. The lost and found was filled with clothing, still intact clothes. Some were brand name and new. She would have killed to steal some of the clothes from the lost and found. But, unfortunately, many girls would easily catch on and recognize the clothing. It was ironic, how many girls didn't even know or care when they lost their clothing but could immediately tell when someone else was wearing their clothes or knew when someone had stolen something or theirs. Itachi would also know if she stole the clothes. It wasn't worth the risk. She knew he would know.

As she was changing in the bathroom, she listened to the chatter. Soon, she finished and waited until every girl left, before putting her clothes in her gym locker and leaving the locker room.

She waited for gym to start. Girls and boys were separated into their own small cliques, whispering and laughing for only a couple minutes before the gym teacher came in and signaled for the class to start.

He was taking attendance.

"Haruno." He finally barked, eyeing her with dislike. He had never like Sakura since she was not athletic and was more fragile than all of the girls. It always took her longer to do the activities than the other students.

"Here." She said meekly.

He soon finished taking attendance and began to tell the class the various activities the class would have to do. Normally, Sakura would have not paid attention until she heard the words "Annual relay race."

She stifled a groan. It was the stupid annual relay race. It was a two leg race with two people. She would have to work her ass off and she would be humiliated since no one would want her as a relay partner.

"Let's get started. Separate and line up! Johnson, you have first pick!" He yelled.

Soon, everyone started to pick. Red patches of embarrassment started to appear on Sakura's face. She wanted this to be over with.

One boy grinned at her rakishly. "Who should I pick?"

"Maybe Haruno?"

He turned his gaze on her. "Nah, she's too much a freak."

Giggles began to erupt from boys and girls alike. He walked up to her and inspected her, his eyes full of malicious intent. Sakura looked down and began to kick dirt with her shoe.

Finally, he slapped her butt. "In your dreams, Haruno." He whispered.

Suddenly, before he planned announcing some other jock as his relay partner, a voice spoke.

"I choose Haruno as my partner"

The voice was deep as the ocean. Sakura's head snapped up.

It was Gaara. He was wearing a tight sleeveless maroon shirt that showed off his muscles and black silk shorts outlined with white silk. His jade eyes were boring into her, not showing any emotion.

"It isn't your turn, Sabaku." The boy from before sneered.

"Yeah, Sabaku. It isn't your turn." The gym teacher said smugly, who was clearly on the other boy's side.

"Do I really care? Besides, he doesn't even deserve a turn for humiliating another student. What kind gym teacher are you, allowing this under your eye?"

There was silence. The gym teacher was dumbfounded and so was the rest of the class. "Er… Um… Fine! You can go, Sabaku." He snapped.

Gaara ignored him. "Come over here, Haruno." His eyes were fixed on her tiny frame.

She obediently stepped over next to him. "Do you run well?" He muttered.

"Yes." She managed to squeak out.

"Good."

Time seemed to start again and students began to pick their partners.

After a while, everything was in place and students were ready to run. Sakura was waiting nervously in the field. She swatted a bug that was buzzing near her ear. Her hands were clammy and sweaty. It was a hot humid day, probably over eighty degrees.

She was very surprise why Gaara had picked her. She hadn't even noticed he was there. She wasn't even a good runner. She lied since she didn't want to disappoint him. She was too skinny and her body could never endure running. It was too much for her malnourished body.

The hot sun beat down her head. The race had started and the coach had made the signal that the race had begun. She could see the runners in the distance. Then she saw him with the baton in hand: in first place, ahead of everyone, running like a leopard, elegantly and fast. A predator ready to catch its prey. He was not out of breath at all.

Then something stirred in her. He was placing his faith in her, so they could win. He wanted to win. She closed her eyes and her hands tightened into fists. She would not disappoint him at all. She would keep her word. She would win for him… for he had trusted her.

He was almost near her, others were overtaking him. Sakura immediately held out her hand and began to run. He placed the sweaty baton in her and she took off.

She was last. But she didn't care; she would over take them all. She began to run as fast as she could, her arms and legs moving in an endless pattern. There was only one thing in her mind: to win.

She started to gain speed. Unlike other times, her legs weren't cramping her. She felt as light as feather. She put all her weight on legs. Each step on the ground was hard but quick. Sweat was emitting from every pore in her body. It was taking everything she had, but she would have gladly given anything to win.

With much effort, her feet pounded the ground. She whizzed by five girls.

Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest, it felt like it was going to burst. She gritted her teeth as several cuts on her leg opened. She was almost in first place.

_Mother, give me strength. _

She took a deep breath, before using all her energy to dash past the last girl.

But the girl wasn't so willing to part in her first position. She efficiently jabbed Sakura in the stomach with her elbow and gave her a sneer before zipping past her.

Sakura didn't stop. Pain was immerse but she did not care. Several blisters on her hand, popped open, oozing blood and pus.

She would not give up. She refused to give up. She refused to disappoint the only person that had put his faith in her, even if it was for the slightest thing.

Anger filled her. Anger at Itachi, anger at her father for leaving her mother, her mother for dieing, leaving her all lone, anger for everyone in the school for treating her like a piece of garbage, leaving her to rot, shunning her. She was in a glorious haze of anger. She would take her revenge one day.

The anger fueled her. She began to gain speed again. She bolted past the girl in first place with a spurt of speed.

She was panting heavily. Her lungs ached. It was getting hard to breath. But she didn't care. She was in first place.

The white finish line was only a couple of yards away. She could do this. Everyone behind her was far way and could be barely seen. Pain was felt from every part of her body. But she would not stop.

Then she saw a boy. She squinted. He was in the distance, but she still could see his beauty. His alabaster skin, his soft pink lips, and black hair blowing so ever so gently in the wind. He was wearing odd black clothes on a sunny day. He did not human. _Maybe an angel to save me?_ She thought.

Then she passed the finish line. A thin smile appeared on her face. She felt mixed feelings of joy, relief, love, and hatred, while pondering about who the mysterious boy was.

Those were her last thoughts before her surroundings began to swirl around her and turn black as she began to fall.

* * *

**End of Chapter 10. **


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